Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes hopes to welcome back influential duo Mark Reynolds and midfielder Willo Flood for the club’s trip to Ross County tomorrow.
Reynolds has not featured in the furst team since injuring his shoulder against Shkendija in the Europa League first qualifying round on July 2 but made a successful return for the under-20s against Falkirk last week.
Flood aggravated an ankle injury in the League Cup loss at Hibernian but has been training and is in contention for the trip to Victoria Park.
McInnes said: “Mark Reynolds has had some game time which is good and the players who have not been away have been working extremely hard.
“Willo has been working hard with the physios and trying to get himself ready. He is in contention for Friday and it would be great to have both him and Mark back.”
The Dons are eager to get back to action following the international break after suffering back-to-back league defeats.
A 2-1 defeat by Caley Thistle which ended the club’s 100% eight-match winning start to the league campaign was followed by a shock 5-1 home loss to St Johnstone, the heaviest defeat McInnes has suffered in his Pittodrie tenure.
The Aberdeen manager concedes the loss to his former club was a sore one but has backed his players to bounce back in the Highlands.
He said: “We’ve been hurt by the sequence of results we’ve had and we all expect more of ourselves.
“We had a club record sequence of wins and we’ve had an unwelcome run since then but the spirit remains good here.
“The improvement in the team is there for all to see and, as sore as it is, defeats happen. We’ve suffered two defeats so far in the league; this time last season we had lost four.
“The players have been reminded what it takes to win games but we can’t lose sight of the fact we’re eight points better off than last season, we’re top of the league and we were four points behind Celtic at this stage a year ago.
“We’re a point ahead of them so in comparison to this stage last season we’re in a good place, although it is important we get back to winning ways at Ross County.
“Jim McIntyre has got his team going and I’ve watched them a couple of times this season. We had a poor record as a club there until recently but we’ll have to show better concentration and improve certain aspects of our game.”