Dons boss Derek McInnes hopes Lewis Ferguson does not add to the midfield injury crisis after hurting his ankle early on in the 2-0 defeat of Livingston.

Aberdeen already have four midfielders ruled out with Funso Ojo (hamstring), Craig Bryson (ankle), Scott Wright (cruciate ligament) and Stephen Gleeson (knee) all sidelined.

Ojo is unlikely to play again this year after suffering a significant tear to a hamstring while Bryson is out for a month.

Wright is out for the rest of the season with cruciate ligament damage suffered in training and Gleeson is battling back from knee surgery during the pre-season.

McInnes has only two fit recognised central midfielders with Ferguson, pictured, and 18-year-old Dean Campbell starting at Livingston.

There were concerns early in the match at the Tony Macaroni Arena when Ferguson, 20, suffered an ankle knock.

The Scotland Under-21 international was able to continue for the rest of the match and McInnes hopes there will be no injury problem.

He said: “Lewis hurt his ankle in the first minute which took a while for him to run off.

“I am hoping he is okay.

“I don’t think there is anything too sinister.”

Centre-backs Scott McKenna and Ash Taylor are also sidelined with hamstring injuries.

Taylor will not return until after the international break next month while McKenna could potentially be back for the home game against Hibs on October 5.

McInnes said: “There will be no players coming back for Wednesday at Hearts (League Cup quarter-final).

“We will go again and try to find a team and performance that can get the club into another semi-final.”

Leading scorer Sam Cosgrove has also been battling a groin problem that limited his training time ahead of the Livingston game.

With tough away games against Hearts tomorrow and Rangers in the Premiership on Saturday McInnes opted to drop Cosgrove to the substitutes’ bench to manage his game time.

Cosgrove came off the bench to win an injury-time penalty which he then converted for his 11th goal of the season.

McInnes recently admitted the club are gripped by the worst injury crisis he has experienced in his six and a half years at Pittodrie.

He said: “We have to deal with that injury situation as best we can until everyone is back fit.

“It is important to work with the players to get the right results.

“A lot of the injuries have been contact and one or two of them have been a bit freakish.

“We have got to look at everything from the training and the rehabilitation side of it.

“We pride ourselves, certainly in my first five years at the club, at hardly picking up a muscle injury.

“But when it hits you as hard as it is at the minute then it can be a challenge to overcome.”

Aberdeen ground out a victory at the Tony Macaroni Arena to move up to third in the Premiership table, extending an unbeaten run to five games.

McInnes said: “Sometimes the sign of a good team is not when it is all going well but when you have challenges put in front of you. With 13 players at training on Thursday our options were certainly limited.

“It was up to us to come up with a winning formula.”