Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson has admitted he could look for further loans for Findlay Marshall and other young talents on the fringes at Aberdeen.
The midfielder had a standout season on-loan at Arbroath and that convinced the Dons to hand the young midfielder a new two-year deal. Marshall has been back training with Aberdeen's first-team.
Robinson said: “Playing for Aberdeen is not easy. Look at the top five teams last year, I think there were one or two young players playing regularly if you look at those teams, Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibs and Motherwell. There weren’t many young players who played.
"It is a real tough league to come in and with the expectations that are here. They have to be ready and we do it in different ways. Marsh has gone out on loan. He has to come in and be better than what is front of him. That is the reality of being a first-team footballer.
It’s not a democracy
"It is not the democratic society of Aberdeen where everybody gets equal game time. You have to be better than the person in front of you. Marsh is working towards doing that. There are other younger players who we believe going out on loan to will be a real benefit.
"It doesn’t mean to say that all these players will be top-six players for Aberdeen right now because they come from our academy. Ultimately, they have to play football rather than sitting on the bench. I think the club do this really well with the loan system we have.
"We will continue to do that and look at the boys come the end of August, do they need to go out on-loan again? Do they need to develop further? We are talking about very young boys with very little experience.
"To play for Aberdeen you need that mentality, backbone and experience of playing football matches. We will look at that closely and Marsh will be one of those players.”
Transfer business ongoing
Aberdeen have already signed 11 players this summer and aren’t finished quite yet. The Aberdeen manager confirmed: “We are always looking to strengthen, to see what is there and what improves us or a position we are a little bit light in. We are still looking. There are plenty of people we are speaking to, but I don’t think anything is imminent.
"Our recruitment team and Lutz (Pfannestiel) are working hard in the background.”
Squad trimming needed
The Dons also need to significantly cut the numbers to get down to where they want to be in terms of outgoings. He admitted: “Nothing new. We know we want to get down to a squad of 23 players and three goalkeepers.
"We are a little away from that and to be manageable that is what has to happen. The boys are working hard to do that. There are some options for players and we will see what comes off it.”
Aberdeen have opened up with two wins against Brora Rangers and Queen’s Park. They will hope to make that a hat-trick against Queen of the South. The Dons welcome back Stuart Armstrong, but Kenan Bilalovic will miss out after suffering another setback.
Robinson admitted: “Not too much change. Kenan Bilalovic trained but has re-injured himself, his back. His back seized up and he will need further investigation.
"Stuart Armstrong is back, which should be a bonus. Mats (Knoester) is back training and will join in fully on Friday, which is another great boost for us.”
