Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin fears summer signing Shayden Morris is so quick Scottish Premiership defenders will resort to fouling him.
Winger Morris was secured for an undisclosed fee from League One Fleetwood Town as part of an extensive summer rebuild.
In his two appearances since signing, the 20-year-old has caused defenders problems with his lightning-fast pace and direct play.
Goodwin reckons speedster Morris is so rapid, once he gets beyond defenders, the only way to stop him will be with a foul.
He insists it is a similar situation to Hibs’ multi-million-pound winger Martin Boyle.
Aberdonian Boyle returned to Hibs this summer having moved from Easter Road to Saudi Arabian club Al Faisaly FC in a £3 million transfer in January.
Goodwin said: “Once Shayden gets on the other side of a defender, you are never going to catch him. He is quite similar to Martin Boyle in that respect.
“In that once he gets away from you, you have to foul him to stop him because he is so quick.”
Morris close to scoring first goal
Secured on a four-year contract, Morris made his Aberdeen debut as a first half substitute in the 3-2 loss to Motherwell.
The winger’s performance was one of the few positives to take from that defeat.
Morris had a positive impact when again coming off the bench in the 1-0 defeat of St Johnstone at the weekend.
Morris was played in on goal by fellow substitute Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes late on in the game.
He was only denied a first goal for Aberdeen when keeper Remi Matthews blocked his 20-yard drive.
Goodwin said: “I thought Shayden was very unlucky with a couple of attempts he had.
“The second in particular when the keeper made a decent save.”
‘Extremely disappointing’ run ends
The defeat of St Johnstone was the Dons’ first Premiership away win of 2022.
Aberdeen had not won a league game on the road since January last year, also at St Johnstone.
Goodwin was unaware of that away league win drought prior to kick-off in Perth. But he was delighted to end that away day hoodoo.
Goodwin said: “I wasn’t aware of that stat.
“That’s quite incredible for a club of this size to have that kind of record on the road.
“That’s extremely disappointing and thankfully we were able to put a stop to it.”
Boss Goodwin demands consistency
Goodwin had demanded an immediate response in Perth having suffered a disappointing 3-2 loss to Motherwell.
The Dons delivered to jump back into the Premiership top six.
Goodwin has demanded consistently high performances and not fluctuations in form.
He said: ” We’ve got to be consistent in our defending and attacking – in our all-round game.
“We have got ourselves back in amongst it at the top end after the result at St Jonstone. Hopefully, we can follow that up on Saturday.
“We need consistent results.”
‘We can’t go back to chasing the pack’
Next up for the Dons is a clash against Livingston at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Midfielder Connor Barron is ruled out for that match with a knee injury.
Goodwin recently confirmed Scotland U21 international Barron will be out for another six weeks due to the injury.
Barron, 19, has yet to feature this campaign having suffered the injury in a pre-season friendly.
Goodwin warned Livingston will be desperate to bounce back from a 1-0 loss to Motherwell at the weekend.
He said: “We can’t afford to go and drop points against Livingston then be back to chasing the pack again.
“Livingston will be sore after their defeat and David Martindale (manager) will be looking for a reaction.
“They are a tough nut to crack.
“There is that level of expectation as we will be at Pittodrie in front of our own fans.
“I thought we played very well for about 70% of the game at St Johnstone.
“There are still bits we can improve on.”
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