The Dons support was stunned by a starting line-up that included five defenders, dictating a formation that seemed to leave many of those players similarly bewildered as to where they should be.
McInnes seemed to admit his tactical blunder when he brought Peter Pawlett on for Donervan Daniels on the half-hour but had to wait until half-time to properly communicate the changes, by which point the Dons were 1-0 down.
The players were resurgent in the second half, and won the game 2-1 with goals from Ash Taylor and Adam Rooney, for which the players and manager must take credit.
After the game, McInnes told BT Sport: "I take responsibility [for the first half]."
Later, he added: "There was a change in our demeanour in the second half and that was the biggest thing.
"The players showed exactly in the second half how important the three points were and they deserve so much credit for that.
"It could be the most important three points of the season, you never know.
"We are now in to a 10-game season and we will look to win as many of them as possible. From the last 15 league games, we have lost one, drawn two and won 12 and that is brilliant consistency.
"If we get anywhere near that in the last part of the season, we will be pleased with our work and we are just determined to finish as strongly as possible."