Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes says bringing in a central midfielder is his priority during the January transfer window but remained coy over signing Partick Thistle's Stuart Bannigan.

The Dons have been linked with the 23-year old, whose contract at Firhill expires in the summer, but the manager wouldn't be drawn on the speculation.

McInnes' side is thin in the midfield with Willo Flood picking up a hamstring injury in last weekend's Scottish Cup clash with Hearts, and Ryan Jack being out with the same problem since the start of January.

He says now they have secured Rotherham keeper Adam Collins to replace Danny Ward, who was recalled to his parent club Liverpool at the start of the week, it's a position which is now their main target.

"We’re a bit short in the middle of the park," McInnes said. "It’s clear to see with Willo’s injury and Ryan Jack’s injury. That’s the obvious place we’re a bit light."

He wouldn't be drawn on any possible interest in Bannigan, however. Jags boss Alan Archibald insisted earlier in the week that his midfielder will not be sold at this stage in the season.

"There’s been loads [of names] mentioned, it's that time of the year where you have a conversation with an agent and sometimes they can lead to a newspaper headline," McInnes continued.

"I'm well aware that we’re always trying to prepare for the immediate future, the future in the next transfer window and there are players we have looked at.

"But I'm not going to speak about this player and that player, we’d like to discuss who our options are once players have signed and once we've identified who exactly we’re after."

McInnes also said talk of an approach to Rangers for goalkeeper Cammy Bell earlier this week were not accurate.

"We put together a list of possible goalkeepers that were possible options for us and assessing who may be an option and who wouldn't be," he said.

"We hadn't ruled anyone in but had ruled loads of them out. There was no approach for Cammy Bell but that’s not to say he wasn't a name that was mentioned or there wasn’t a discussion with his agent to see what his fitness was, but there was no approach to Rangers."

Derek McInnes says a deal could be done in the near future which would see Paul Quinn return to Ross County.

The defender played for the Highlanders last season before making the switch to Pittodrie but has remained on Jim McIntyre's radar.

The Dons boss has been in contact with the Staggies manager but says nothing will be sorted before the weekend's fixture.

"Jim and I speak on a regular basis," he said. "We last spoke a couple of weeks ago and decided then we would just wait until after we played each other.

"Paul obviously served Ross County well and he’s a player Jim knows. But Jim may have other options, we don’t want to lose anyone, we're a bit tight as a squad. But if Jim wants to speak about Paul Quinn or any of my players he will do that after the game on Sunday."