Marley Watkins Injury Blow, Hayes More Positive

Aberdeen have suffered an injury blow after Bristol City loanee, Marley Watkins could be ruled out until the start of 2021.

Marley suffered a hamstring injury in our Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic after a collision with Celtic’s Scott Brown, and with his loan deal due to expire in January it could mean that was his last appearance for the club, albeit Marley has indicated he would like to extend his stay at the club.

Manager Derek McInnes said: “It is not great. Marley has a significant tear as well as the damage on his hamstring. He will probably be out for between eight to 10 weeks.

“That is a real blow for us. We will liaise with Bristol and formulate a plan over the next week or so.

“Marley was a player who against the majority of opposition could play up front alongside Sam Cosgrove or another. Unfortunately we will not get to see that for the foreseeable future.

“It is a blow for us as I have really enjoyed having Marley with us and he has been very influential in the team.

Meanwhile there is more positive news on Jonny Hayes.

Jonny missed the Scottish Cup semi-final and it looks as if Hayes will make a return by the end of November following the international break, earlier than expected.  Jonny suffered a groin injury at training the day before the Cup semi-final.

McInnes added: “Jonny is probably not as bad as initially feared although he will probably still be out for the next two to three weeks. Thankfully it is not a big a tear or issue as Dylan McGeouch’s tear.

“Hopefully Jonny will be back for the game on the 28th November, the League Cup tie game. We didn’t want to go into a game of Sunday’s magnitude without Jonny.

“He will probably miss Hibs, Rangers and Hamilton and hopefully back for the following game.”