No winter break in the Scottish Premiership is not something that fazes Derek McInnes.
The Aberdeen manager has grown used to having a few weeks respite in January, usually after a hectic December in which his players have played at least seven games.
For the last four years Aberdeen have gone to Dubai in January for a warm weather training camp, ahead of returning to domestic in the Scottish Cup. It is regularly cited by the players as hugely beneficial for their form in the second half of the season.
However, the need to get games played has taken precedence this year, with Premiership sides playing all through January as SPFL secretary Iain Blair revealed last month.
McInnes said: “I’m fine with that. Obviously when you’ve got an early start in Europe and you play so many games, then there’s normally eight or nine games in December. You’re normally ready for that break to get the squad settled down and overcome any injuries.
“This year we’ve got a slightly later start with the games and we need to use that extra training time we’ve got now, because of the length of time the players have been inactive. We fully accept that this season, being able to cram all the fixtures in with a winter break, that would be something that wouldn’t be there this season.”
A further addition to the fixture calendar this year will be two full fixture cards taking place on a Friday night.
On October 2 and November 6, Premiership clubs will all play at 7.45pm to give the Scotland national team an extra day’s grace ahead of their international commitments.
They are due to face Israel at Hampden Park on Thursday October 8, with the winner of that Uefa Nations League play-off due to face Norway or Serbia away on November 12..
There is likely to be a mix of players plying their trade in Scotland and England in manager Steve Clarke’s squad, however Blair has stressed previously that the congested fixture list would make it impossible to clear the domestic schedule the week prior to the Israel game.
Dates for the domestic season beginning still remain provisional, on the basis that there is no significant increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Scotland.
McInnes added: “I just keep reminding myself that a few weeks ago, we weren’t sure how this was all going to play out. Whether we were going to get back playing football any time soon. I think we all remind ourselves of that and we’re really grateful for the opportunity that we’re all back at work.”