McInnes details injury problems after Aberdeen's 'horrible' loss

Derek McInnes has revealed that he could be without three key players for a number of weeks after they picked up injuries during Aberdeen’s bruising defeat to Ross County.

The Dons were beaten 4-1 by the side who started the day at the foot of the Premiership and McInnes’ misery was compounded by the trio of injuries.

Ash Taylor left the field with a back problem, while Jonny Hayes had to be replaced after an ankle injury.

Ross McCrorie also damaged his ankle but played on as the Dons had used all their subs but he and Hayes left the Global Energy Stadium on crutches.

“Ross has a real issue with his ankle which is going on to the bottom of his leg,” he said.

“It doesn’t look good to be honest, he was really struggling and couldn’t move in the final 10 minutes, but we had used all our subs.

“It did have a bearing on the game as he couldn’t get off the ground to challenge with Ross Draper for the third goal.

“Jonny rolled his ankle so we need to wait and see with that and how that plays out during the week.

“Ash had a back spasm in the opening period and he was clearly struggling to move. He has a better chance of recovering, but it is an issue just now.

“Hopefully the injuries aren’t too bad, but we do fear the worst with a couple of them.”

Defeat saw Aberdeen drop to fourth in the table, though they have two games in hand over third-placed Hibs, and McInnes said it had been a miserable day.

“We can’t dress this up, it has been a horrible afternoon,” he said.

“We have to defend certain situations far better than we did and disappointed with the manner of goals we conceded.

“It is hard to look at any positives and losing three key players during the game was disappointing.”