Aberdeen in square pegs and round holes approach ahead of Hearts as new injury may leave midfielder in defence
Hearts host Aberdeen this weekend and both teams have injury issues.
Aberdeen could face playing players out of position this weekend against Hearts to help cope with their mounting selection issues.
The Dons are in a tough patch of Premiership form under interim boss Peter Leven and played out a drab stalemate with Dundee United on Tuesday night, as they look bound to finish in the bottom six. They are Hearts’ next opponents as Derek McInnes’ team strive to go seven points clear at the top of the league ahead of Rangers hosting Celtic a day later.
In the draw at Tannadice, Aberdeen suffered an injury to centre-back Tom McIntyre. The winter arrival is now a doubt for facing Hearts with a hamstring injury and Mats Knoester and Kristers Tobers are already injured. Liam Morrison is suspended and that means midfielder Sivert Heltne Nilsen may partner Jack Milne in central defence. Gavin Molloy is another option and winger Kenan Bilalovic also played wing-back against Dundee Utd as Leven switched from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 on a poor Tannadice surface.
Who could play for Aberdeen versus Hearts?
Leven said: “Losing Tom was a blow but Sivert came in and was really assured there. He’s played there before. He’s composed. You saw that on Tuesday. He trains unbelievably every day. So he’s always ready. He’s a leader and if he needs to play on Saturday that’s no problem.”
“Young Kenan moved to wing back and it’s not a pitch for him to dribble on. Obviously we didn’t realise how bad the pitch was, but his attitude to get up and defend was really good. It’s a good point on the road on that pitch. Yes, we wanted three but it was a tough game in tough conditions. We had good chances in the game and overall it was a good, solid point. I saw a lot of hunger and fight from my team. I can’t fault my players.”
He added in his interview with Sportsound: "In the first half we tried to play a couple of passes inside and it just bobbled up. So we changed and adapted the system and went more direct. We got in a couple of times. Kevin Nisbet’s chance comes from Toyosi Olusanya running in behind.
Peter Leven on Aberdeen 0-0 Dundee United
"I don't think the pitch helped. I saw a lot of fight from my team today. Gavin Molloy was outstanding, Shinnie, and young Kenan doing his defensive duties as well. I can't fault the players. It's not enough. We went for the win and we had chances. But Kristian Bratveit didn't have many saves to make.
"Tough game, tough conditions. It was a good battling point. I thought we were on top in the second half and had good chances. They had the last five minutes with the long throw-ins and corners putting us under pressure but overall it was a good, solid point."
Hearts are also swamped with injury problems. Stuart Findlay, Craig Gordon and Ageu are the latest to be added to a pile that already includes Lawrence Shankland, Cammy Devlin, Beni Baningime, Oisin McEntee, Stephen Kingsley and more.