Aberdeen have been hit by a major injury blow after forward Derek Young was ruled out for an additional six weeks.
Midfielder ruled out for an addtional six weeks
Aberdeen have been hit by a major injury blow following the news that forward Derek Young has been ruled out for the next six weeks after his knee injury proved more serious than first thought.
Young has missed the last six games after suffering the injury during the 5-1 Scottish Premier League defeat to Celtic at Pittodrie at the beginning of February.
The 27-year-old, who joined the Dons from Partick last summer, will now miss the Scottish Cup quarter-final against Celtic on Sunday and manager Jimmy Calderwood does not expect Young to return until the final weeks of the season.
"He got it against Celtic here and they've found out it's ligament damage in his knee," Calderwood told Aberdeen's
official website.
Massive blow
"It's going to be six weeks at least which is a massive blow, because the lad has done really well this season."
Meanwhile, Calderwood is hoping Jamie Smith will return to ease his injury problems for the cup clash with The Bhoys.
Calderwood is expected to be able to call on Smith for the first time since January following the midfielder's recovery from a hamstring injury.
"He's got two great feet, he's quick, he's aggressive, he's got a great football brain," Calderwood added.
Struggle
"He goes into positions where he's hard to mark. You want to play with good players.
"You know it doesn't matter where he gets the ball, he'll get it under control and he knows where the next pass is going.
"He's been a bit of a talisman for us this season and it would be a massive boost to get him back."
Calderwood also admits knock-out success represents Aberdeen's last realistic hope of repeating this season's Uefa Cup experience as they struggle in eighth place in the SPL.
"It's the last chance cup-tie-wise," said the Dons boss."We've made it very difficult for ourselves in the league and although it's Celtic it's definitely the shortest route to Europe."
