Aberdeen midfielder Barry Robson will miss tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership game against Caley Thistle in Inverness after losing his appeal against his red card last weekend.
Robson was dismissed for catching Dundee United midfielder Charlie Telfer in the face with a flailing arm but claimed the incident was accidental.
The SFA rejected his appeal yesterday, meaning he will sit out tomorrow’s game against his former club at Caledonian Stadium and the game at Dundee United a week tomorrow.
Despite Robson’s absence, Dons manager Derek McInnes is eager to secure second place this weekend.
Aberdeen will ensure they finish no lower than second if they avoid defeat in the Highlands but McInnes is intent on finishing the campaign with a flourish.
He said: “We want to win the game and secure second spot as quickly as we can and we will look to do that on Saturday at Inverness.
“Caley Thistle have been excellent all season and they showed again on Sunday at Hampden what they are capable of as they produced another great performance to beat Celtic.
“We beat them recently at Pittodrie and, despite playing well against them, it was a tough match separated by just one goal, as has been the case in all the matches between the teams this season.
“I’ve seen nothing recently which suggests that pattern will change in our last game against each other. If anything, the task will be even harder as they are full of confidence after reaching their first Scottish Cup final and there has been a huge feel-good factor about the club all week because of that.
“They were brilliant on Sunday and beating Celtic in a cup semi-final and reaching a final is a great achievement for them and for John Hughes. Yogi and his players will believe they can go on and win it now.
“But they will know they are facing a team which still has a lot to play for in this team.”
With the Dons due to return early next season to play in the Europa League first qualifying round on July 2 McInnes and his players face another short summer break but the Dons manager insists there are no plans to ease up once second place is secure.
He said: “We won’t be resting anyone. I said recently I would freshen up the team where possible but not at the expense of trying to win games. Whatever happens on Saturday we want to finish the season strongly and go into the break with optimism for next year.”