Barry Robson knows he won’t hear excuses from his players about being “tired” as the Aberdeen boss weighs up potential squad rotation ahead of a return to league action at St Mirren on Sunday.
The Dons have a quick turnaround following Thursday night’s Europa League play-off first leg draw with BK Hacken in Sweden.
Robson’s side had trailed 2-0 before goals from Nicky Devlin and Bojan Miovski in the space of four minutes secured a vital draw ahead of the return fixture at Pittodrie.
And while the Dons boss believes rotation will be necessary with European football on the cards until at least December, he does not want to hear any excuses regarding the busy schedule.
Robson said: “We’ve got a lot of games coming up and the travelling takes a lot out of you, but the players we’ve recruited here have all got a strong mentality.
“There is a good culture about the club and a good spirit in the team.
“I don’t want players coming to me, saying ‘I’m tired’ – the top, top players will play 50 games a season, or at least in the 40s.
“I’m not one for listening about having to rest up all the time.
“Yes, we have to rotate and we’ve got the players to do it, but everybody in the squad is going to play a lot of games this season.”
Will MacDonald, McGarry, McGrath or Sokler start at St Mirren?
Robson’s substitutes against BK Hacken – Angus MacDonald, James McGarry, Jamie McGrath and Ester Sokler – made a clear impact, and the Dons boss is weighing up their involvement against the Buddies.
Against Hacken, McDonald made his second appearance of the season following injury, while McGarry and McGrath both made their Reds debuts after signing for the club.
Robson said: “It’s why you bring them into the squad.
“But what you can’t do is go and just make loads of changes. Angus has been out for six weeks, James hadn’t played since May and then had a child and had jetlag.
“You can’t just go and make big radical changes quickly.
“The boys did well when they came on and performed for 20 minutes, but all of a sudden when you start a game it’s then they realise that maybe they’re not quite up to speed.
“There are all these things that we need to think about and I know I could trust them all to do a good job.
“I don’t want any injuries because that’s when the problems start, so I’ve got to be clever with that and make sure that when then they are coming in, and if they do come in at the weekend, then they’re exactly ready to do that.”
Boss hopes Jensen ‘can be involved’ against Buddies
Aberdeen beat the clock to register their 11th summer signing, Finnish defender Richard Jensen, ahead of the away clash with BK Hacken.
He was named on the substitutes bench, but did not feature – but Robson says Jensen could be in line to make his Dons debut against St Mirren on Sunday.
Robson said: “I hope he can be involved. We’ll have a look at him in training and see what he’s like.
“It’s hard when you’re taking someone into a new club. He’s only just meeting everybody for the first time, the first time he’s seen the training pitches and then we flew him over to Sweden and put him on the bench.
“It (Jensen playing) is something we’re considering at the minute.”
Robson content with ‘work in progress’ Aberdeen
The Dons travel to the SMiSa Stadium on Sunday in search of their first league win, but Robson is content with the start his new-look side have made to the season.
The season started with a 0-0 draw at Livingston, before a home defeat to Celtic – while the Reds also reached the quarter-finals of the Viaplay Cup after beating Stirling Albion.
Robson added: “People have got to remember that first game against Livingston – they were fives games in and on that pitch it was really difficult.
“We probably should’ve won that game, and then Celtic at home I thought we were outstanding.
“Stirling Albion away, everyone wanted us to get beat. I2t was the Darvel thing coming out again.
“We go away to Hacken on astroturf again and it was a great performance away from home, and now St Mirren away again.
“The boys are doing all right. They’ve got a good mentality in there and that’s what we’re trying to build with this squad.
“They have come in in their dribs and drabs, but we’re trying to get there and trying to get to where we want to be.”
Dons gaffer remains coy on link to Senegalese striker
Aberdeen are understood to have struck a deal to sign Senegalese striker Pape Habib Gueye from Belgian First Division club K.V. Kortrijk – but Robson was coy when asked if he had plans to add any more new faces to his squad.
Robson said: “We’ve done good business and if something else comes up we might go for it – but it has to be right for all parties.
“The squad is strong, some still need to catch up a little bit. We’re still a work in progress and I think everyone will know that.
“We’ve just got some boys over the line recently, so a lot of them have not had a full pre-season with us.
“We need to try and get them to catch up with the rest of us, but overall we’re pretty pleased with the business we’ve done.”
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