Jimmy Thelin has declared the January transfer window will be essential for Aberdeen after a double injury blow ahead of the visit from Hibs on Saturday.

Vicente Besuijen will miss four months of action after suffering a knee injury against St Johnstone, leaving him on the sidelines until around mid-April.

Meanwhile Jack Milne will be out for three months after picking up an ankle injury, with both having undergone successful surgeries.

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Thelin said: "Yeah, there's some bigger problems there of course. I think now, as I remember right now, Jack Milne is more or less 12 weeks and Vinny is actually even more, is around 16 weeks.

"So it's not good news for the players of course, but I’ve talked to both of them. They are strong characters and have an optimistic mindset.

"So it's the same, we have to go through this together and push them and help them and support them in this period. It's two good people and two good players.

"Then of course it's difficult in the career to get the setbacks, but as before we have to support them and give them all we can to make a good way back."

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Thelin has insisted like Pape Habib Gueye and Dimitar Mitov, who are also out, they will get round all their injured stars, writes the Daily Record.

The Swede stated: "They always have my trust, but they're performing better and better and they evolve a lot and they grow as a player and also some leadership skills.

"But I told both of them that this can happen, but it doesn't mean that we forget where you were and your place and what you can do and we still believe in the players. So we need to support them there."

The injuries have hit the Aberdeen squad and Thelin is looking to move in the January market.

He explained: "I think we have to, when you're building a squad you have to have the long term, what we want to look like in the future, how we want to evolve as a squad, but also sometimes take care of the short term problems you can have.

"It's also gives opportunities to other players to show what they can do. So we're going to take everything, not get stressed, but we also have to be trying to strengthen the team.

"But let's see how we do that and also put trust in the players we have. So let's see what everything turns around in the next coming weeks."

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Aberdeen still sit in second spot but are five games without a win and will look to change that when Hibs visit Pittodrie. Thelin said: "Yeah, I think it's important for us to, especially at Pittodrie, to give everything we can to win the games.

"It's important to win at home, but we always have in mind the opponent and their skills. Hibs are in a good period right now, they're scoring a lot of goals and are in a good place.

"But we also have to fight back and do our best performance and find a way back. If the performance is stable and good, we're going to get the results. So that's what I focus on these two weeks."

The good news for Aberdeen is that Jack MacKenzie returns to the squad after injury.