Jimmy Thelin has been speaking to the press ahead of Aberdeen’s home clash against St Johnstone in the Premiership.
And the Swede has confirmed that first-choice left-back Jack MacKenzie won’t be ready to feature in the matchday squad at Pittodrie.
MacKenzie hasn’t been involved in the last two Aberdeen games due to injury and while he is back in training, Saturday’s game will come too soon for him.
Jack MacKenzie remains out for Aberdeen
Thelin said of MacKenzie: “He’s ok and he trained on Friday but we think it’s too early for him to come back.
“We don’t want to rush things and risk getting a set back before another busy spell of games.
“There’s a two week gap between matches after St Johnstone and we can recover really well for those.”
Thelin speaks ahead of St Johnstone
Aberdeen are now winless in four games but Thelin says his squad need to remain positive. The manager said: “For us it’s more about being optimistic about the schedule and getting as much energy as possible.
“I always think you have to have a strong belief in what you’re doing and it’s not over till it’s over. It’s what happens over the season that’s our target and nothing has really changed for us.
“This is still a long term journey, we always think game-by-game and see where we end up in May. There are no easy games in this league but we always have to be ready to compete and get better.
“For there’s no point feeling sad about losing the last game, we need to concentrate on winning the next one. The expectation is always high in terms of ambitions at this club and nothing has changed.
“We want to try to make sure of European qualification this season and in the future. That’s why we are trying to build something strong in the long term and that’s the aim.
“We can’t focus on the games that have gone, we have to focus on the points that we still have to fight for. If we have a good performance and a good result that would be good as it’s an important game.”