Aberdeen sweat over fitness of Duk ahead of key match against Hearts

Aberdeen forward Duk picked up a calf injury during the 2-1 defeat by Rangers.

The Cape Verde internationalist came off injured with a calf complaint just after the hour-mark during the 2-1 defeat by Rangers at Hampden in the Viaplay Cup semi-final. The 22-year-old has been in excellent form for Aberdeen since the league’s return from its World Cup break and has become a popular figure with the club’s fanbase, but it is touch and go as to whether he will make the trip to Tynecastle for the match between third and fifth in the league. Should the Jambos win, they would move nine points clear of the Dons.

“After about 20 minutes he [Duk] started to feel his calf,” Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin explained. “We just tried to get him through it as best we could. Hopefully there is no long-term effect there. But we have got a number of the players who have cramped up and have muscle issues. Hopefully none of them are too serious. But the medical team are going to be very, very busy to turn them around in time for what is going to be a challenging game at Tynecastle on Wednesday.”

Creative midfielder Leighton Clarkson also had to be substituted due to a muscle injury and Goodwin believes the heavy playing surface at Hampden had a big part to play in the condition of his players. “The pitch was a huge disappointment,” said Goodwin. “In the build-up to the game I was telling the players about how they could look forward to playing on a nice pitch. I thought it would be like a carpet considering that Scotland last played on it in September. Maybe Queen’s Park have played on it since. It doesn’t do us any favours as a country when you are trying to market the game around the world.

"You want these showcase semi-finals and finals to be played on bowling greens. I know there was torrential rain on Saturday night, I get that, but if the pitch had been better it would have held up. That was a major disappointment. I don’t think it suited either team. Both of us tried to get the ball down and play. But before the game I was telling the players ‘at the back, don’t take any risks, be careful with you pass backs to goal’. It is some thing we need to look at and maybe make a bit more of an investment in the surface.

“I thought before a ball was kicked on Saturday night the pitch was poor. I was just really, really surprised. Earlier on in the day I had watched Rotherham play Blackburn at Rotherham’s stadium and there pitch was immaculate. Rotherham would be classed as one of the smaller teams in the English Championship. So no doubt it will come back to investment again. That is where we need to be.”