Bristol City are set to cut short Zak Vyner's loan spell at Aberdeen and recall the defender.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a fine first half of the season on loan at the Dons, and has now been deemed ready to return to the Robins and add depth to their defensive line after the departure of Bailey Wright.
Yet Vyner will not be available straight away for City due to the fact Vyner suffered a dislocated shoulder in a 1-1 draw with Hearts on December 29.
Having already missed the majority of November with a shoulder injury, the Dons were fearful that Vyner's season would effectively be called to an early end if he required surgery.
Whilst that does not appear to have been the case, Vyner still faces some time on the sidelines, with Dons manager Derek McInnes clarifying the details of the injury to the Evening Express on January 10.
He said: "Zak is seeing the specialist again today.
"Although it is still not 100% confirmed Zak does not need the operation, it looks likely the recommendation will be for him to do the rehab without the surgery.
"The rehab would be six weeks from the game at Tynecastle so you are still talking the second week in February."
Yet earlier this week, McInnes hinted that Vyner could be out for a little longer than he initially expected, revealing to the Evening Express that he wanted to bring in two more new signings due to players not coming back for a period of time.
He said: "We still have boys who are out for a period of time in Craig Bryson, Zak Vyner, Greg Leigh and Scott Wright.
"These boys are not coming back any time soon."
