Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes hailed his players performance as they swept Hamilton Accies aside and said they had met his target of nine points from their last three matches.

An Andy Considine double and a goal from Niall McGinn saw the Dons move to within eight points of leaders Celtic and move away from third-placed Rangers after both glasgow sides lost on Saturday.

McInnes was pleased to have had the maximum return from three games in a week and said he had been pleased with how his players had responded.

He said: "We'd targeted nine points from the last three games, as we knew it was an important week for us, playing against Kilmarnock, who came up here on a good run, and then playing two teams fighting for their lives.

"All three games provided a challenge for us and we've scored 10 goals in them with the added bonus of a clean sheet today."

That clean sheet was a first for Freddie Woodman in an Aberdeen jersey, the goalkeeper having joined on loan at the end of the transfer window. McInnes said that the highly-rated youngster wasn't guaranteed to start every game but provided Danny Rogers with competition for the starting spot while Joe Lewis is sidelined with injury.

"He did well," McInnes said. "It was uncomplicated for him, but he acquitted himself well. It was a decision for me to put him in as Danny Rogers has done well, but the rationale behind playing Freddie today was that I wanted to see him in action.

"It shouldn't be assumed that he is the first choice, as it's clear I have two good keepers who can push each other for the jersey until Joe comes back."

Hamilton boss Martin Canning had no complaints about the result despite feeling his side gave a good account of themselves overall. He felt that Aberdeen's experience paid dividends against a young Accies side.

"In the second half we saw four of our five attacking players looked tired, but it was always going to be difficult coming up here to face what I think is Aberdeen's strongest XI when we have so many numbers out," he said.

"A lot of young players came in and did very well, but they're also playing a man's game now and you get punished for your mistakes. Shaun Want came in and did very well, but he's picking up Considine, who scored two goals, and that's the difference in levels."