JONNY HAYES has declared himself available for Aberdeen’s season-defining visit of Celtic after receiving 18 stitches in wounds sustained when he was mauled by a dog near his home.

The Irish midfielder required urgent medical attention in the wake of an incident which occurred whilst walking his two Labradors last week in the Balmedie area of the city and has trained wearing heavy strapping on his left arm and hand.

Derek McInnes, the Aberdeen manager, insists, however, that Hayes will be fit to play his part as the Dons endeavour to close the gap at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership to three points this evening and admits that Hayes and his team-mates have managed to see the funny side of his injuries.

“The specialist who saw him for his stitches was a guy called Barker,” said McInnes. “I thought I was in the middle of a comedy sketch when he was telling me.

“I think it was then that I walked away.

“He will be fine for the game. In all seriousness, it was quite a nasty bite. It was pretty horrific, to be honest.

“It was not a laughing matter at the time. Of all the people to bite into, though, I think the dog made a bad decision biting into Jonny Hayes. I think it died on the spot.

“I don’t know what kind of dog it was. It must have been a greyhound to catch him.

“If there is any drama, it is normally Jonny. He is worth the drama, though.

“As far as I am led to believe, he was walking his own dogs, another dog got involved and I think Jonny tried to separate them. In the commotion, he has been bitten.”

McInnes has also defended the conduct of Aberdeen over their failed attempt to sign Greg Tansey on deadline night. The Pittodrie club felt their £200,000 offer had triggered an exit clause in the midfielder’s contract, but Inverness Caledonian Thistle are understood to be arguing that there was a certain ambiguity in the terms and conditions of his agreement.

Tansey is also said to be considering an approach to the SPFL for a ruling.

“We’ve acted properly, professionally and with integrity throughout all of this,” stated McInnes. “I spoke to John Hughes and he agreed with all of that.

“It’s not easy for us to pay a fee of £200,000 and I’ve had to try and generate that, freeing up wages and putting some players out on loan.

“I took the decision not to put a bid in last Friday afternoon, just out of respect for Inverness and John’s preparations for his own game on the Saturday.

“We felt we’d put our bid in on Saturday after their game. We didn’t get an immediate response, which was frustrating.

“You would need to ask Inverness why he is not here, to be honest.”