Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie insists Ester Sokler can step up to fill the goalscoring void if star striker Bojan Miovski is sold this summer.
North Macedonia international striker Miovski was left out of the match-day squad as Aberdeen beat Queen of the South 3-0 in the Premier Sports Cup group stage opener.
Italian Serie A club Bologna have Miovski on their radar and the striker is also being tracked by clubs in England, Germany and Spain.
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin confirmed he omitted Miovski from the cup game due to “things going around him”, such as transfer speculation.
Slovenian striker Sokler was pitched in for a start and grabbed his chance by netting a first half double against the League One side.
Shinnie hopes Miovski is still at Pittodrie when the transfer window closes.
However, if the 25-year-old is transferred, the club captain is confident Sokler is ready to step up to fill his shoes.
Shinnie said: “Bojan was a big player for us last season so of course we want him to stay.
“But football is football and I have been in it long enough to know players come and go.
“Whatever will happen will happen.
“It was important that Ester got on the scoresheet, knowing that if Bojan does depart, Ester is ready to go.
“That’s how football works. People come and go, including myself.
“It’s important that, as a squad, players are ready.”
Sokler was secured in a £300,000 transfer from Slovenian top-flight club NK Radomlje on a three-year deal last summer.
Also 25, he netted six goals last season.
Shinnie keen to prove his wonder goal was no fluke
Captain Shinnie pitched in with his own wonder goal against Queen of the South with a drag-back and nutmeg before a composed finish.
He said: “I had one of those chalked off against Ross County last year, so I was just making sure it wasn’t a fluke and that I could do it again.
“It was good to get a goal and start the game the way we did.
“That is important in these sort of games as it calmed us down and we played some good stuff in the first half.”
‘I was told I was suspended’
Skipper Shinnie revealed he thought he was suspended for the trip to Queen of the South after picking up three yellows in the competition last season.
He even planned on a family trip to Nairn because he was ruled out.
However, he was given the green light to play when the SFA wiped out all League Cup bookings from last season.
Shinnie said: “I was told this week that I was suspended.
“I had a weekend in Nairn planned then had to change my plans because I was unsuspended.
“I don’t know if they wiped it out or whatever they did, but it is understandable and the right way to do it.
“If I got sent off last season, fair enough, but three yellow cards in a previous season, they should get wiped.
“Start afresh in the new season is the sensible way.”
Thelin’s ‘high intensity’ message
The Premier Sport Group stage win at Queen of the South was Thelin’s first competitive match in charge of the Dons.
Swede Thelin had less than three weeks of pre-season training to get across his message to the Dons.
He started three of his summer signings at Palmerston Park – keeper Dimitar Mitov, midfielder Sivert Heltne Nilsen and defender Gavin Molloy.
Striker Peter Ambrose (Ujpest) came off the bench midway through the second half.
“High intensity,” said Shinnie.
“We have had a short space of time to work, but it has been intense.
“With what he wants to do, the game against Queen of the South is a good starting point – although there is still a long way to go.
“We will have to check what we did right and what we did wrong.
“And to learn, because it has been a short space of time – but it has been really good so far.”
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