McInnes ready to welcome back Bryson for Dons

CRAIG Bryson could return for Aberdeen when they host Celtic on Sunday.

The former Kilmarnock and Derby midfielder has been missing for five weeks with an ankle injury and both he and Stephen Gleeson were on the bench at Motherwell last weekend despite not being fully fit.

Gleeson was brought on in the 89th minute as he battles back from a knee problem that had previously kept him out all season, and defenders Zak Vyner and Greg Leigh deputised in central midfield to good effect in the 3-0 victory at Fir Park.

Manager Derek McInnes said: “Stephen Gleeson played for an hour on Monday in the development game.

“That’s a step forward for him. We have to be fair to him, he has been out for a long time.

“Bryson has trained this week and, hopefully, he can put together another few training sessions ahead of the weekend. The signs are he is improving and getting to where we need to get to.

“Ash Taylor is doing fine and may well be back for the Kilmarnock game on November 2. Everybody else is as we are.

“Lewis Ferguson and Curtis Main are still suspended for one more game.”

McInnes added: “Sometimes when you have these injuries you have to try to find the solutions. On Saturday we were able to find a couple of real star performances from Greg and Zak in particular.

“I thought Jon Gallagher and Sam Cosgrove were a constant threat and I thought throughout the back four were pretty solid.

“It’s just trying to make sure we have that contribution in the forward areas as well as that solidity that we had on Saturday.”