Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin believes Leighton Clarkson can use his time at Pittodrie as a platform to break into the Liverpool first team.
The 20-year-old made an instant impact to his Dons loan spell by scoring a stunning goal in Saturday’s 4-1 win against St Mirren.
Clarkson’s season-long loan deal from Liverpool to the Dons was finalised only hours before kick-off.
The England under-20 international was given an early taste of action after replacing the injured Hayden Coulson after only 12 minutes.
Clarkson caught the eye immediately with a man of the match display, which included a thunderous strike for Aberdeen’s third goal.
Goodwin said: “We’ve tried to bring in some good quality players who have the courage to play at a stadium like this.
“I’ve been here with St Mirren and know how much of an impact the fans can have if things aren’t going particularly well. You need to have strong characters.
“If Leighton has ambitions to go and play for the Liverpool first team, then he’s got to come here and play and excel.
“I’m delighted for him to come in. He’s had a great education at Liverpool. He knows how we want to play, hence why he’s here.”
Goodwin says the Dons have been monitoring Clarkson closely and was delighted to finally get the deal across the line.
He said: “He’s one we’ve had tabs on for six weeks, but he’s been training with Liverpool’s first team.
“He was on their tour in Asia and it was difficult to get him in any earlier than we have done.
“I have spoken about the need for a bit more creativity and competition in the middle of the pitch.
“I think we’ve got competition in the midfield now. We’ll hopefully have a fit Connor Barron soon to add to that.
“We have competition in pretty much every area of the pitch which is great.”
Clarkson’s goal was the highlight of his first appearance in a Dons shirt, but Goodwin felt the midfielder made several telling contributions during the encounter against St Mirren.
Goodwin said: “It was a brilliant goal. About six or seven minutes before, he tried it and it went miles wide and I think it’s testament to his character that he tried it again and it ended up in the top bin.
🚀 🤯
WHAT. A. GOAL
👏🏽 Leighton Clarkson.#StandFree | #cinchPrem pic.twitter.com/4mz4FIP3bL
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) August 7, 2022
“It was a really quick turnaround from Leighton. He came up the road on Friday night from Liverpool.
“He got a late flight and his mum and dad drove his car up. Myself, the director of football and medical team were at Cormack Park until about 10pm getting everything sorted.
“It was only about half 11 this morning that we got the international clearance. We would have liked him to have come into the game in different circumstances. It was always my intention to give him 30 minutes at the end.
“We’re disappointed for Hayden Coulson, who took a really nasty one. It doesn’t look great so we need to wait and see what the scans show.
“But Leighton was excellent. People will talk about the goal, but I thought his overall performance was excellent. He is really confident on the ball and suits the way we want to play. Leighton and Ramadani complemented each other.
“It was a very satisfactory afternoon from the team and some really good individual performances as well.”
‘It looks like Hayden has done some serious damage to his ligaments’
Goodwin, meanwhile, admitted he is concerned about the injury sustained by left-back Coulson following a late challenge from former Dons defender Declan Gallagher.
The Scotland international was booked for the tackle and sent off shortly afterwards after conceding the penalty that led to the Bojan Miovski’s penalty opener for the Dons.
Goodwin said: “I am not going to point the finger at Declan. I have a lot of time for the big man.
“It didn’t quite work out for him here as he would have liked, but I don’t think there was any malice in it.
“It was a hard tackle and he certainly caught Hayden and it looks like Hayden has done some serious damage to his ligaments.
“That is a huge blow, but it’s great we have the capability to slide Liam Scales into the left side, Ross McCrorie dropped back into centre-back and Clarkson got on the pitch nice and early.”
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