Aberdeen moved up to third place in the Scottish Premiership thanks to their victory at Kilmarnock yesterday, but the win came at a cost as Tommie Hoban became the latest central defensive casualty.
Hoban was replaced at half-time after suffering a hamstring injury and the Dons face a wait to learn how long they will be without the former Watford defender.
For Dons boss Derek McInnes, another defensive injury was the last thing he needed ahead of four games during the festive period.
He said: “It wasn’t perfect, but I thought every one of them stood up and battled and it is another good 2-0 victory on the back of last weekend.
“But it doesn’t help us that we lost Tommie Hoban at half-time after he felt his hamstring.
“We sold Scott McKenna before the window closed then brought in Greg Leigh, who is out, and Mikey Devlin, who has just had his operation. Losing another in Tommie is the last thing we need especially as we’ll be without Ross McCrorie on Boxing Day.
“Maybe I’ll get a centre-half for my Christmas.”
Goals from Ryan Hedges and Sam Cosgrove were enough to give the Dons victory at Rugby Park, but McInnes was frustrated at seeing his side fail to make the most of their strong first half showing.
He said: “We were just looking for more fluency in the first half and certainly more shots as our reluctance to take shots after working the ball into good areas was a real source of frustration at half-time.
“We’ve got some good attacking players here and we want them to try to express themselves and get their numbers up.
“When you get into good areas you have got to have the wherewithal to take on those shots. I’d rather the shot doesn’t come up because we are trying to do the right thing and be positive.
“Hedges in particular is one we think can get his numbers up. He picked the ball up in a good area, drove at their back lot and got his shot away.”
The Dons boss had to wait until the last kick of the ball from Cosgrove to celebrate the win, but he believes the result was an important one ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Fir Park to face Motherwell.
He said: “Four goals and two clean sheets is pleasing.
“We’ve had a lot of games in the west of Scotland recently with the way the fixtures have gone. It’s a big demand on us, but what we have on the back of last week is an away victory and we’ll go into the Motherwell game with a bit more confidence.
“There’s no doubt they are a good team.”