Dylan McGeouch suffered a groin tear in Scottish Premiership draw with Celtic; Aberdeen play Celtic again in Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday; Derek McInnes: "It was the worst possible news for him. He tore it just on the side of the pitch"
Wednesday 28 October 2020 18:14, UK
Dylan McGeouch will miss Aberdeen's Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic after being ruled out for up to eight weeks with a torn groin.
Midfielder McGeouch suffered the injury during the first half of last Sunday's draw with Celtic in the Scottish Premiership and a scan has confirmed his and Dons boss Derek McInnes' worst fears.
"Dylan will miss out, he went for a scan which showed a tear on his groin and will be out for about eight weeks," said McInnes.
"It was the worst possible news for him. He tore it just on the side of the pitch. There is a lip there and he has lost his footing and stretched it.
"I have been really pleased with Dylan and he has been playing very well recently so I am disappointed he faces a period out."
Aberdeen head into Sunday's cup tie at Hampden Park buoyed by their late heroics against Celtic at Pittodrie, where Lewis Ferguson's injury-time penalty earned a 3-3 draw and extended their unbeaten run to five games.
"The response of the team was good and it was no more than we deserved," said McInnes. "I thought we were very good in the 90 minutes, we were very competitive throughout and we were smart with our work.
"When the game did get stretched it helped Celtic find some more space, but I actually thought it helped us later on. We had the players on the pitch who enjoyed a bit more space and we had more of an attacking threat.
"We have players in good form. We have players who are playing at a good level at the moment. The team has been pretty consistent with the way we have set up."
Celtic boss Neil Lennon has found himself the subject of criticism following defeats by Rangers and Milan and the draw with Aberdeen, but McInnes says the Northern Irishman has the experience to handle the external pressures of the role.
"Neil has been over the course to deal with this," said McInnes. "He's proved himself a good manager and will continue to prove that.
"I haven't seen a lot of the criticism and what Neil has responded to, but I heard the gist of it. But that's Celtic and Neil's business."
