Cormack reveals Dons have cut their Covid-19 hit by half

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has declared the club have offset half of their predicted £10 million coronavirus hit.

The Dons opened talks with players and other staff last week over making wage cuts and other savings amid the prospect of playing behind closed doors for the first few months of the season.

But Cormack was able to give supporters some encouragement that the club were finding ways to deal with the financial impact of the pandemic.

Writing on Twitter, Cormack said: “All at AFC working 120 per cent to manage crisis. With no fans at games we now estimate an income hit of £10m. Incredibly we’ve managed to raise/save £5m so far. Football success and protecting jobs a priority. Fans have been great. Can only get thru this together. Let’s do it!”

Hibernian and Dundee also launched consultation processes with employees in the past seven days.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon also warned his club would not be immune to the effects, with decisions set to be made by the end of the month on whether players and other staff will face more wage cuts or deferrals.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear when Premiership clubs can resume contact training despite professional sport being allowed to return in Scotland from Monday.

A meeting at Ayr racecourse will herald the resumption of professional sport after the Scottish Government announced on Thursday that the country was moving into phase two of the route out of lockdown.

The suspension of all football activity was lifted on June 11, but only for Premiership first-team squads to train in a socially distanced manner.