Jimmy Thelin has revealed Republic of Ireland international Jamie McGrath missed Aberdeen's 4-1 win over Dundee after undergoing minor facial surgery.
The former St Patrick's Athletic and Dundalk attacking midfielder was taken to hospital after a clash of heads with Ross County goalkeeper Kacper Lopata at the start of September.
The club and the player elected to have the procedure done last week so that McGrath will have time to heal during the international break.
Even without the influential Meath man, Aberdeen still proved too strong for Dundee after goals from Ante Palaversa, Topi Keskinen, Vicente Besuijen and Kevin Nisbet- two either side of Simon Murray’s consolation – helped the team reach the top of the table.
Thelin said: "We had to make a decision after Jamie got a hit against Ross County.
"They needed to fix some parts so he had minor surgery. We had to decide if we do it before this game or if we have to wait until after the international break, then he’s going to miss maybe three or four games.
"So we took the decision to get it done before this game instead. And now after the break he’ll be fresh to play again.
"It was a minor operation because of that hit in the collision at Ross County.
"There was no danger to Jamie but we had to do it sometime and that was the perfect opportunity for us to do it.
"To be able to still get the victory without him says a lot to us about the squad.
"Some players have played a lot but then other players take the opportunities and responsibilities.
"So, a season is for a squad, not for a starting eleven."
The victory took Aberdeen three points clear of Celtic ahead of the Hoops’ trip to Kilmarnock on Sunday.
