Aberdeen’s Jamie McGrath Missed Match Due to Minor Facial Surgery

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin revealed that forward Jamie McGrath was absent from the team’s 4-1 victory against Dundee because he had undergone minor facial surgery. The Republic of Ireland international had been hospitalized following a head collision with Ross County goalkeeper Kacper Lopata in late August. Both the club and McGrath decided to schedule the surgical procedure for last week, allowing him recovery time during the current international break. Following the significant win at Pittodrie, Thelin, a Swede, explained the rationale behind the decision, stating: “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 whether to do it before this game or wait until after the international break, when he’s then 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 XI.”