HAVE the Aberdeen fans accepted the inevitable, that Jonny Hayes’s departure from Pittodrie is imminent?

Was that why they gave the winger, as usual bursting with pace and energy, a standing ovation as he was substituted late in this one-sided William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round tie?

Hayes may have been nursing a hamstring problem, but it would have taken a more serious impediment to have offered some sort of respite to whichever opposing defender he chose to torment on the day.

The interest in the Republic of Ireland international from Cardiff City, whose £500,000 bid for the player was rejected, may not wane, however, despite their precarious finances, though Shay Logan, regularly consistent at right-back for the Dons, is understanding of the issue of why Hayes and others – Niall McGinn, perhaps – may seek job opportunities elsewhere.

“For me, outside maybe Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair at Celtic, Jonny is the best player in the league,” Logan insisted. “I’d certainly put him as the best left midfielder in the league. No-one can stop him. He’ll think carefully if he has to make a decision over leaving and I know he could do in the English Championship what he does here. If a good team comes in for you and you want to prove yourself down there, I’m all for it. Like Niall, he’s done a helluva job here.”

McGinn, like Adam Rooney, scored in each half as Stranraer buckled under the pressure and the ease with which he created a series of opportunities for a heftier scoreline – Cameron Belford’s expertise and acrobatics in the opposition goal put paid to that – was eye-catching.

“When Niall is in that form he’s unplayable and he does it week in, week out,” Logan said. “He’s a good player to have in the team and when he’s on his game he doesn’t just score but he creates chances for the rest of the lads which people don’t always see.”

With Hearts hovering as suitors, did he expect the Northern Ireland international, out of contract at the end of the season, to move on?

“Everyone is in a different position,” he said. “I stayed at Aberdeen for family reasons but Niall or Jonny might be different. It’s up to them and it’s not a decision they will take lightly. Niall will have a lot of thinking to do but he’s been at Aberdeen for a long time and if he did decide to move on then nobody could argue he didn’t give his all during his time here.”

Logan, kept happy at Pittodrie, meantime, by being offered enough time off by manager Derek McInnes to be with his family in North-west England, underlined his point by reminding the supporters that football is a job.

“Players are no different,” he said. “If you are given the chance to earn three or four times your salary and thereby have greater security for your family, then what would you do?”

Aberdeen’s dominance of what were ninety punishing minutes for the Stair Park club prove excruciating for the League One strugglers who started well but wilted under the immense pressure heaped on them by powerful opponents.

“We knew it would be a win for us if we approached it in the right manner,” Logan added.

“Their keeper would have known before the game he was going to be in for a tough match and he made four or five good saves. The scoreline wouldn’t have flattered us if we’d scored six or seven but they kept the ball out of the net, including one from myself which I thought was in.”