Jimmy Thelin is hopeful top scorer Pape Habib Gueye will be back after Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup clash at Elgin City.
The Senegalese striker, who had five goals in five Premiership games, has been out since October when he injured his quad in training. The Dons boss confirmed he has stepped up his training and if all goes well he should be back in a red jersey in a couple of weeks. Thelin said: “I don’t know, maybe two weeks more, it’s difficult to say but it’s good that he’s on the pitch now and adapting again to play football. That’s what we’re happy for.”
Aberdeen have been active in this transfer window bringing in Jeppe Okkels and Kristen Tobers. The new boys are both expected to be in the squad for the home game with Hearts on Sunday. They have also bid for Alexander Jensen of Brommapojkarna. Thelin is still working on a number of fronts and cautiously stated: “Yeah it’s speculation (Jensen) , so no I can’t comment on other players, specific other teams’ players.
“I focus on what we are doing here and it’s a lot of work ongoing but then it’s also a market. You have targets maybe but you also have a target on what you want to get, it’s two different things.”
Thelin also stated Angus MacDonald remains an active part of his squad, despite being substituted at half-time in the defeat to Motherwell. The defender was their only fit central defender and Thelin explained his reason to finish the game with midfielders Sivert Nilsen and Dante Polvara at the back.
When asked about MacDonald, he answered: “Let’s see in the weekend but the decision there was made on that we were two goals down and we have to be better with the ball and try to outplay Motherwell to get some chances to try to get back in the game.
“We gave it a go, we created some chances, we controlled the rhythm of the game but we don’t have this edge right now. I think it was two or three opportunities to give ourselves a chance to get the point. So that was more a tactical decision because of qualities.”
The Dons have confirmed defender Gavin Molloy needs a shoulder operation and will be out for the season. Striker Ester Sokler is also likely to be out for the next few months. Thelin explained: “It’s like always, you don’t want that for the team but also for the individual player.
“The players want to play, they want to get healthy and they want to be on the pitch and help the team in a challenging time. But we have to support them, as I said before, with other players and find other ways that they can improve themselves, get stronger in the physical part, etc.”