Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes believes his players have more than earned an early-season break.
The Dons should have faced Hamilton Accies at Pittodrie today but asked for a postponement last month because of Europa League commitments.
McInnes believes his players will benefit from a break after Europa League trips to Macedonia, Croatia and Kazakhstan.
The manager said: “We took the decision to request the Hamilton game off while we were still in Europe to give us a chance to take a breath if we had still been in the competition.
“I felt it was worth requesting because it helped us beat Kilmarnock on Sunday.
“We were able to ask for a big effort from the players knowing they were going to get a couple of days off.
“It will help us to try to get the three points at Motherwell on Saturday as we won’t have had the demands of a third game in six days.
“Rather than chasing nine points we thought we would give ourselves the best possible chance to get six and pick up on the Hamilton game later.
“That showed against Kilmarnock and the players have earned a couple of days off. There have been big demands on them and it has been a bit of a whirlwind since coming back in the middle of June.
“They have not had a chance to take a breath.”
Peter Pawlett missed Sunday’s 2-0 win against Kilmarnock but McInnes hopes the midfielder will be back in contention for Saturday’s trip to Fir Park.
He added: “Peter twisted his ankle in training on Friday. Hopefully, with treatment he will be back towards the end of the week.”