Derek McInnes has taken a thinly-veiled dig at Graeme Shinnie as he admitted it's "extremely unlikely" he'll remain at Aberdeen.
The Dons boss appeared frustrated that his captain was pictured receiving a tour of Derby County's Pride Park just days before a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic.
Shinnie, who was suspended for the 3-0 defeat, is out of contract at the end of the season and Rams manager Frank Lampard had publicly admitted his interest in the midfielder.
McInnes insists he's been asking the 27-year-old for clarity over his future "for months" and says it "wasn't ideal" that the situation took a significant turn before Aberdeen 's biggest game of the season.
He told BBC Scotland: "I've been asking him for months and months about what his future holds and then it blows up before the semi-final.
""It's up to Graeme to sort out his future. There's been certain clubs interested that he just wouldn't entertain and we thought we would still have an opportunity to keep him.
"But there's one, Derby County, that is now very tempting for him. We might be in a position to put some clarity on that in the next week or two."
Shinnie picked up an ankle injury during the Dons' 1-0 win over Kilmarnock on Saturday and McInnes now fears he may have played his last game for the club.
He added: "It's not good. I’d say he would be a doubt for the remaining games.
"His ankle is a bit of a mess. We’ll see how he goes.”
