Joe Lewis reckons James Wilson can shake off his injury troubles and turn his loan spell with Aberdeen into a successful one.
Wilson, who joined from Manchester United before the end of the transfer window, had a cameo against Hibernian but then saw his early Dons career derailed by a hamstring injury.
Manager Derek McInnes is a huge advocate of Wilson’s ability and believes he will be one of his best loan signings with the Dons.
Lewis, who was on the books of Cardiff City when they were a Premier League outfit, has seen enough of Wilson in training to know the qualities he will bring.
He said: “In training he’s been excellent. His finishing is as good as I’ve come across. You can see why he’s at Man United.
“He’s 22 and he wouldn’t still be at Man United if he wasn’t a good player. Hopefully he can get up and running and get on the scoresheet and go from strength from strength.
“His finishing is brilliant, he’s an excellent finisher. He always seem to find that bottom corner at pace, with both feet as well. He’ll be a real asset.”
Wilson is back available for today’s visit of Motherwell, which starts a big week for the Dons.
They face Hibernian at Easter Road on Tuesday in the quarter-finals of the Betfred Cup before a trip to champions Celtic at Parkhead next weekend.
Well got the better of Aberdeen in two knockout ties last season and Lewis insists the physical approach they offered against the Dons last season is not their only strength.
Lewis said: “A fair bit was made about the way that Motherwell play. I think their football and quality is underrated.
“They’ve got a physical presence up top with Curtis Main and Ryan Bowman who
are strong lads but there’s no taking away from the quality that they’ve got when the ball’s on the ground.
“It’s one of their attributes and we’ll certainly want to be ready for that. But that’s not their only way of playing. The finishing of their forward line and the quality they’ve got in midfield is very good. They’re certainly not a one-dimensional team.
“It’s a huge week for us, the sort of week you look forward to. Motherwell were a difficult side for us last season so we need to deal with that first. Easter Road we have already been to and there can only be one winner on the night, then we go to Celtic Park. Hopefully we can replicate what we did last time there.
“It’s very early – we’ve had one defeat which wasn’t a great performance but we were down to 10 men after five minutes. Points-wise you’re better off
losing one and winning
one rather than drawing two.
“There’s still confidence within the dressing room but you don’t want to be playing catch-up too early in the season. We’re confident we can make that ground up.”