Gary Mackay-Steven could be missing for Aberdeen against Celtic

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Former Celtic winger Gary Mackay-Steven may not be fit to start on his return to Parkhead on Saturday with Aberdeen.

The tricky winger was injured in a collision with Rangers’ Connor Goldson last week at Pittodrie. And, after an x-ray yesterday, it could only be the case that Mackay-Steven plays a bit-part role.

Mackay-Steven lasted just 15 minutes against Rangers, but reportedly only has bruising on his calf. If that’s the case, however, you have to wonder whether Aberdeen should bother risking him.

The Dons have a massive Scottish Cup quarter-final replay at Ibrox on Tuesday night. He showed at Pittodrie he has the ability to hurt Steven Gerrard’s men, and therefore that has to be the Dons’ priority.

But the former Celtic and Dundee United winger looks unlikely to start on Saturday anyway.

If Mackay-Steven does miss out, it’s likely he’ll be replaced by another former ex-Celt – Niall McGinn.

The dynamic Dons duo

Both men have done extremely well for themselves in the Granite City. Mackay-Steven has managed 67 appearances for the Dons since signing back in July 2017.

As for McGinn, however, he’s managed to stay a fair bit longer – earning 270 appearances and bagging 73 goals since signing in 2012. There was a brief four-month spell playing in South Korea for McGinn, but he was swiftly back at Pittodrie afterwards.

The potential injury news isn’t likely to rock Neil Lennon in any way. He’ll be aware of the likes of Mackay-Steven’s threats, but nobody at Parkhead will be fearing them.

Mackay-Steven, in the end, just couldn’t make it work in Glasgow. He made just 39 starts for the club, but did bag 10 goals. Unfortunately, too often was the winger drifting in and out of games at Parkhead. It was clear the pressure of winning consistently wasn’t something the former Dundee United star was used to.

Hopefully he does indeed shrug off his injury in time for the trip to Glasgow. If he doesn’t, however, he’ll join the likes of Tommy Hoban, Shay Logan, and Frank Ross in being out for Derek McInnes’ side.

As for Celtic, our injury list remains substantial. Anthony Ralston, Filip Benkovic, Eboue Kouassi, Tom Rogic, Olivier Ntcham, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, Daniel Arzani, and Leigh Griffiths are all unavailable.