Aberdeen transfer state of play as 2 key positions targeted in January and latest on Duk, MacKenzie and McGrath

Jimmy Thelin has insisted Aberdeen are very much active and are ready for every eventuality going into the January transfer window.

The Swede will be looking to strengthen his Dons squad for the second half of the campaign and that work is already well under way. Aberdeen sit in second place but there are positions within his group that need strengthened. There is also the added risk for the Dons with the likes of Duk, Jack MacKenzie and Jamie McGrath all going into the last six months of their Pittodrie contracts and suitors could try and thrash out a cut-price January deal.

Thelin claimed: “I think the market is, how can I say, it's free in one way. You can try to anticipate things in and out inside a squad and you always try to be ready and prepare players to take over if someone is leaving. So this is how we see it on the market. Sometimes you expect someone will not leave, but then it's changed. But I think we have a good control on the situation right now and it seems like we are ready to keep going and try to build a strong squad that can cope with the intense schedule.”

A defensive cover will be a priority with no natural right-back cover for Nicky Devlin and possibly another wide man with Vicente Besuijen likely to face a long spell on the sidelines, after he suffered a knee injury in the recent draw with St Johnstone, along with Jack Milne, who has an ankle issue. Thelin added: “Now we have some injuries, but also some players have the opportunity to show themselves and they have shown good things, so we're going to take it from that.

“We have always tried to be ahead and plan what we want to improve, but also it can change during the season. We always have recruitment work that's ongoing every week because the