Aberdeen's Scott McKenna fears ahead of Celtic clash

By David Walton

March 2, 2020

Scott McKenna is a currently a doubt for the Scottish Cup semi-final clash against Celtic next month.

The Aberdeen centre-back had to come off at the start of the second half at St Mirren on Saturday night. Aberdeen won 2-0 to set-up a mouth-watering tie with Celtic at Hampden on either April 11th or 12th.

It’ll be the second time in two years that Celtic and Aberdeen will meet at this stage of the competition. However, it could be the case that McKenna has to miss out.

Aberdeen centre-back Scott McKenna (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Speaking about his injury to the BBC, McInnes has admitted that he still doesn’t know how long he’ll be out for, but that it is a hamstring knock he’s suffering from.

“I don’t know how significant it is. I don’t know until Monday until we get him imaged and see what the damage is but I think it’s some sort of tear of the hamstring.

“It depends on the grade of the tear. Hopefully he can get back for us before then and if he does he can be there for Scotland as well.”

Hamstring tear could have McKenna out for weeks

A grade 2 or 3 hamstring tear could see McKenna out for weeks or even months unfortunately. There’s no confirmation as of yet whether that will be the case.

McKenna has had mixed performances against us in the past. However, he has to be respected. The centre-back put in a stunning display in Neil Lennon’s first game at Celtic Park since returning as manager. He kept the likes of Oliver Burke and Odsonne Edouard quiet to secure a point for the Dons in Glasgow.

Then again, there is the other side of it too. McKenna was shocking in the 4-0 loss Aberdeen suffered at Pittodrie against the Hoops back in October. So he can certainly be a mixed bag against us, although more often than not he ends up on the losing side.

McKenna in action against Celtic (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Should McKenna miss out, it’s likely that Ash Taylor would be partnering Andrew Considine at the heart of the Dons defence at Hampden. There’s still plenty of experience in that centre-back pairing, but not having McKenna would be a blow for them.

Hopefully he does indeed make it. Celtic don’t need Aberdeen to suffer injuries in order to beat them, and we don’t want any excuses if we do put McInnes’ men to the sword at Hampden next month. For now, it remains to be seen what grade his hamstring injury is.

How big a blow would this be to Aberdeen ahead of the Scottish Cup semi? Do they need McKenna to stand a chance at Hampden? Use the discussion forum below to give us your opinion.