Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes admits he would not be surprised to see full-back Graeme Shinnie's name in Gordon Strachan's next Scotland squad.

The former Inverness man has made an impressive start to his Pittodrie career since moving in the summer, helping the Dons to the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership after eight games.

As comfortable and classy in defence as he is when asked to step up into midfield, the 24-year-old is now being tipped for a Dark Blues call-ups according to reports in Friday morning's newspapers.

The Scots face two crucial Euro 2016 qualifiers with Poland and Gibraltar next month which will decide whether their dreams of making it to France next summer remain intact.

And McInnes says his player deserves the chance to play his part.

The one stumbling block is a heel injury sustained in the shock League Cup defeat to Championship side Hibernian but McInnes is hopeful he will have recovered in time to meet up with Strachan's group, if required.

Asked about the call-up rumours, he told RedTV: "I heard something similar to that yesterday suggesting he was going to be involved in the next Scotland squad but I haven't spoken to Gordon, so time will tell.

"But if he was included I'm pretty sure he would be fit enough to meet up with the squad and hopefully that is the case.

"I'm reluctant to talk too much about that until the squad is named but it would be a real boost for him if he was included. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if that turns out to be the case."

The swelling around Shinnie's heel will, though, prevent him from meeting his old Caley Thistle employers when they host the Dons on Saturday.

While Aberdeen have won all eight of the league fixtures so far, McInnes admits his team will have to do better than they showed at Easter Road on Wednesday as they lost 2-0 to Alan Stubbs' team.

"Wednesday was disappointing," admitted McInnes, who will also be without injured midfielder Willo Flood, although Jonny Hayes returns from suspension. "From our own point of view, we wanted to do well in the cups. To get through the rounds you need to overcome some tough ties.

"When you are away from home you have to come up with the answers but we never did enough in the forward areas. We never showed enough ability to go past people and create and while I thought we were by-and-large in control of the game, we were never at the level we are capable of.

"But I've got to congratulate Hibs, who were very disciplined and deserved to go through.

"We will have to improve if we are to beat Inverness."