Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass has urged his players to stay safe in their time away from Pittodrie.
With Covid cases increasing daily the Dons have managed to keep disruption to a minimum this season but the squad has been given some time off to recharge during the winter beak.
With his players due to return to Cormack Park to begin training ahead of the resumption of the campaign on January 18 Glass expects his squad to continue to be cautious in their time away from the club.
He said: “I said to the players before they went that some of the things they have been praised for are the sacrifices and their professionalism away from here.
“As a group, we have been touched very little by Covid, so we have been fortunate.
“That is down to the players living their life well.
“I know this virus can hit at any time or any situation but the players have been great. I just hope they stay safe and spend good time with their families.”
Hayes hopes fans will be back after the break
Jonny Hayes hopes fans will be back at Pittodrie after the winter break when the action resumes.
Just 500 were permitted entry to the Boxing Day win against Dundee due to restrictions put in place by the Scottish Government.
Hayes knows the reasons for the restrictions but hopes the situation improves to allow fans to return when the Dons host Rangers.
He said: “I have to be careful what I say because I don’t want anything to be taken out of context because people’s safety is at the forefront.
“I would agree football without fans is not the best. I had most of last season like that and if we can wait a few weeks to get fans back in then that would be great.
“Last season was my least enjoyable because players feed off the fans.
“There are people who know an awful lot more about the virus than me but if we can navigate our way past the next few weeks and get fans back in then we will all be happy come the end of the season.”
The Dons will return in sixth place in the Premiership and Hayes has set his sights on moving the club further up the table in the second half of the campaign.
He said: “We don’t see getting into the six as a pat on the back. We want to kick on as best as we can.
“For a club like Aberdeen sixth isn’t where we want to be.
“We are just halfway through the season but you can tell we are improving. It took the players a bit of time to adjust to things at times but we are now getting there.
“The first half should be a base for us to build on and hopefully to put a lot more points on the board in the second half of the season.”
Interest from other clubs not affecting Dons players
Hayes’ team-mates Ryan Hedges, Calvin Ramsay and Lewis Ferguson, have all attracted interest from clubs in England in 2021 but the Dons attacker, who has been playing at left back in recent weeks, is pleased to see them keeping their focus on the club.
He said: “As a player, when you have a good group of players you want to keep them together.
“When you are a player and there is interest the best thing you can do is to put your head down and to block out the noise from their agents, etc.
“I think you can tell that Calvin has been linked with a lot of teams but he hasn’t let that affect him.
“I don’t see it affecting anyone on a day-to-day basis. People will move on at some point because that is the nature of football.
“You can’t let it affect you. My advice would be keep your head down, do your best for Aberdeen and everything else will take care of itself.”