Aberdeen boss wary of Lennon

But while he knows the Clarets are very much a team, he is wary of one player in particular.

McInnes was at Deepdale on Monday night as Aaron Lennon scored in Burnley’s 3-2 win against Preston - the winger’s second in two games after netting the opener at Macclesfield on Friday.

The former England international is yet to open his competitive account for Burnley, since arriving from Everton in January, but McInnes has been impressed: “I have been watching a lot of Burnley’s games from the back end of last season and into this pre-season.

“It’s clear Aaron Lennon is someone who gives them that pace and trickery high up the pitch.

“He’s is very good in a one-on-one situation and gets defenders running towards their own goal.

“He is a clever player, and like all good players, when they get older they still do the right things.”

McInnes didn’t see anything that took him by surprise at Deepdale on his scouting mission, however: “There are always things you can pick up from watching a game but there were no surprises.

“Burnley are very good at what they do, they have excellent players and they ask questions of you.

“They have a bit of everything, they have players who handle the ball well, they can be physical and they are also very well organised.

“Their workrate is exceptional and when they get the ball forward they have players who can play in the final third.

“We will certainly need to defend well against them because of that quality they have.

“You don’t finish where they did in the English Premier League without having some top players.

“In games like these against good teams it’s about getting the balance between attacking and defending.

“You have to get that right in order to give yourself a chance to win the game and that is the challenge we face."

McInnes, like Sean Dyche, hasn’t been able to bring in the players he would have hoped for in the transfer window so far, and, again, like Dyche, he won’t sign players for the sake of it, after selling striker Adam Rooney to former Claret Graham Alexander’s Salford City: “We are still working round the clock trying to get someone in but if we have to go with the squad we have then I’m happy with that.

“Andy Considine will be okay and Niall McGinn should be okay.

“It looks like the game will be a sellout, which will be brilliant for us because they will give the players great backing.

“There is going to be a display for Neil Cooper as well so I expect the atmosphere to be excellent.”