Aberdeen face an anxious wait to discover whether Niall McGinn will be fit for Thursday’s Europa League tie after the winger missed yesterday’s 2-1 win against Livingston.
The Dons recorded back-to-back wins thanks to goals from Lewis Ferguson and Scott Wright, but veteran attacker McGinn missed the game due to injury.
The Northern Ireland international is set for a scan today and manager Derek McInnes is hoping for good news.
He said: “Niall took a knock against St Johnstone and was still sore and tender on Saturday. We ruled him out for this game and he is having a scan tomorrow, but we’re hopeful there’s nothing there and it settles down for Thursday.
“Niall, especially in home games in Europe, has always been a key player for us, so we’re hoping he will be available.”
The Dons also lost Craig Bryson in the warm-up, while defender Scott McKenna was replaced at half-time due to illness.
McInnes expects both to be fine for Thursday’s first qualifying round match against Runavik of the Faroe Islands.
He said: “Scott was sick at half-time. We decided to take him. I think he’ll be okay for Tuesday’s training. We wanted to put Tommie Hoban back there, but he had a bit of tightness in his thigh and we thought 45 minutes would put him at risk.
“So we put Ross McCrorie back one. Thankfully Scott is alright, Tommie is okay and Ross was excellent at centre-back. It was far from ideal at half-time, but thankfully it looks to be no drama.
“Craig felt his calf in the warm-up. Some of the boys who have not been involved have maybe over-trained this week. He felt his calf tighten in the warm-up so we hope it’s not too serious.
“I don’t think anyone who was involved today, other than McGinn, will be a doubt for Thursday.”
McInnes, who also gave former Caley Thistle attacker Marley Watkins his debut following his loan move from Bristol City on Saturday, was pleased to see his side come through two testing games with six points following their long absence due to eight players breaching coronavirus protocol.
He said: “We’ve watched everybody else’s season get up and running with envy. We had pre-season of seven and a half weeks and were desperate to get going.
“We were then disappointed with our performance in the opening game against Rangers and been idle for 19 days whilst we’ve taken a kicking.
“We want to get some positivity again and the best way to do that is to win games. We scored two today and could have been more comfortable but at this stage of the season it’s about getting the three points and the improvements as the season goes on.”