Defender Mikey Devlin has an "outside chance" of recovering in time to play for Aberdeen in the League Cup final, manager Derek McInnes has said.

The centre-half looked set to miss the Hampden showdown against Celtic after withdrawing from the Scotland squad with a foot tendon injury last month.

But boss McInnes said he's now hopeful the 25-year-old will win his race for fitness after scans on the issue.

He said: "I'm trying to be positive because he's obviously an important player for us.

"The medical staff are a bit non-committal, they recognise the responsibility to try and have him ready.

"Like every team, you want key players available for a game like Sunday.

"When I first took the call when he was away with Scotland, we thought he had no chance.

"It was a real blow then and we dealt with it.

"But post-scan, it emerged he has an outside chance and we'll run with that at the minute.

"We'll prepare for the game with and without him this week.

"Today he didn't feel great but he has an opportunity.

"He'd have to train fully by Friday but we'll give him every encouragement."

Devlin recently spent over a year on the sidelines with a cruciate ligament knee injury and suffered another blow when he was forced to pull out of a double-header for his country.

McInnes said Devlin is desperate to feature on Sunday after suffering a series of set-backs.

He added: "Cup finals don't come around all the time, Mikey has had a lot of disappointment and tests of character.

"He'd want to be there, of course, but he has to be right.

"We'll never put him out there if there is a risk."

Celtic face Rosenborg in the Europa League on Thursday, three days before the cup final against the Dons.

Despite the Hoops' limited room for recovery, McInnes doesn't expect his side to be handed any significant advantage in the build-up.

He continued: "You don't last at Celtic if you're not ready to play a cup final.

"We can prepare for a full week but I don't feel it's any real advantage, Celtic have the squad to deal with that."

The Dons were thrashed 3-0 by Motherwell last time out.

McInnes said he was looking to put that display behind him immediately as focus turns towards trying to add to his trophy cabinet.

"It's not something we'll dwell on," he said.

"The cup final we won, it was so eagerly anticipated.

"I felt the weight of expectation then and I still feel it now.

"I also want to feel that excitement, that adrenaline and enthusiasm for a cup final.

"Every other manager in Scotland would want to be sat here preparing for it.

"Whether we had won on Saturday, it would have no bearing on how we approach this."