Jimmy Thelin is working on the premise that Kevin Nisbet will remain an Aberdeen player beyond the January transfer window.

Speculation is mounting over the Scotland striker's future at Pittodrie after his parent club Millwall replaced manager Neil Harris earlier this week.

Alex Neil has been appointed the new Lions boss, posing questions over whether the former Hibs ace could be recalled from his season-long lean spell early.

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Nisbet has struggled for recent regular starts but remains very much in Thelin’s plans - unless he is told otherwise by the Dons boss, writes the Daily Record.

Thelin said: "I take it what it is right now and not so much if things change. Now we focus on what actually is today. That's the way we have to do because you never know when someone gets sold, someone gets injured or someone goes back from a loan.

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"It’s better to focus on what you have, but then have the long-term process around. Then if something short-term happens, an issue, then we have to look at it that way.

"We can't guess which position is going to disappear but we have to have a long-term strategy and then also be prepared in every position. That's why you're building this recruitment process that you have.

"To try to have some alternatives in different categories on every position in the team but then also it's a market, somebody is going to disappear, then you have to find another one. It's an ongoing process all the time."

Thelin is looking to add to his squad now the window is open and Latvian defender Kristers Tobers of Grasshoppers is one of the names on his wanted list.

The Swede knows it will be an evolving situation, as he stated: "You can never rest in that case. It's not only because of the window.

"I worked a lot before, then the market will change because the player, maybe your target goes to another club. Then you have to add another one. Just keep moving like that all the time."

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Thelin is looking to get Aberdeen back to winning ways against Ross County. He knows it is now about all the hard work on the training pitch. "I think the training pitch is always important," he added. "That's how you can make a team grow and evolve as a team.

"When it's compact between games, it's more about recovery and preparation for the next performance and trying to get the results. But of course, you're trying to also between this tight schedule also using the video as a tool.

"To make things happen more and more often because we don't have much time to train. The players like to play games and I think we have some clear, basic principles that are quite clear and we try to focus on them.

"When they get consistent then we can start another step in the evolution of the team. First of all, we have to make sure that we can do the basics really, really well with what we want to achieve now.

"When we feel that that is more like DNA and it's happening every game then we can start the next process in the evolution of the team."