Craig Bryson could return for Aberdeen when they host Celtic on Sunday.
The former Kilmarnock and Derby midfielder has been missing for five weeks with an ankle injury and both he and Stephen Gleeson were on the bench at Motherwell last weekend despite not being fully fit.
Gleeson was brought on in the 89th minute as he battles back from a knee problem that had previously kept him out all season, and defenders Zak Vyner and Greg Leigh deputised in central midfield to good effect in the 3-0 victory at Fir Park.
Quoted on the club’s official website, manager Derek McInnes said: “Stephen Gleeson played for an hour on Monday in the development game. That’s a step forward for him. We have to be fair to him, he has been out for a long time.
“Bryson has trained this week and hopefully he can put together another few training sessions ahead of the weekend. The signs are he is improving and getting to where we need to get to.
“Ash Taylor is doing fine and may well be back for the Kilmarnock game (on November 2). Everybody else is as we are. (Lewis) Ferguson and (Curtis) Main are still suspended for one more game.”
McInnes added: “Sometimes when you have these injuries you have to try and find the solutions. Certainly, on Saturday the evidence was there, and we were able to find a couple of real star performances from Greg and Zak in particular.
“I thought Jon Gallagher and Sam Cosgrove were a constant threat and I thought throughout the back four were pretty solid.
“It’s just trying to make sure that we have that contribution in the forward areas as well as that solidity that we had on Saturday.
“There is an obvious concern when you have players playing out of position or a position that is alien to them, but good footballers are good footballers.”
