Jim Goodwin faces anxious wait for news on fitness of Aberdeen’s Hayden Coulson

Boss Jim Goodwin faces an anxious wait for news on the fitness of Hayden Coulson after the left-back was injured in Aberdeen’s comprehensive 4-1 win over St Mirren.

Coulson was injured in the challenge that saw former Don Declan Gallagher pick up the first of two bookings in the opening 22 minutes.

Gallagher’s early dismissal set the stage for Aberdeen’s win, with Bojan Miovski’s double and superb strikes from substitutes Leighton Clarkson and Luis Lopes countered only by Jonah Ayunga’s penalty early in the second half.

“I’m not going to point the finger at Declan,” said Goodwin. “I’ve a lot of time for him, and I don’t think there was any malice in it.

“It was a hard tackle that caught Hayden, and it looks as though Hayden has done some serious damage to his ligaments which is a huge blow.

“It’s great that we have the capability to slide Liam Scales across to left-back, and it gave Leighton the opportunity to get into the game.”

For his part, Clarkson made an immediate impact with a stunning goal on the stroke of half-time, with Goodwin adding: “People will talk about his goal, but you can see how comfortable he is on the ball – he and [Ylber] Ramadani complemented each other in the middle of the park.”

Stephen Robinson, who replaced Goodwin at St Mirren, was left to count on the character of his players as they look to improve on form that has seen his side pick up just three wins in 15 league games in charge.

He said: “Things go against you sometimes and I think I’ve had it since I got the job.

“The hope for me is the character of the players. There’s been some very good performances in the past couple of weeks.

“Results haven’t been good enough – we have to turn that around and we will turn it around. It’s not been a case of us being awful.

“Fifty per cent of the starting line-up has changed this season, and we have to keep believing in what we are doing.

“We desperately need a result on Saturday. I’ve a lot of confidence in the players and I’ll protect them to the hilt because they’re giving absolutely everything.”