Right-back Nicky Devlin says the man in front of him, winger Shayden Morris, has started the season “really well” at Aberdeen.
Devlin was a mainstay of the Dons side last season, playing more than 50 times, but Morris has had to be patient for his recent run in the team.
The 22-year-old’s first two seasons at Pittodrie were each punctuated by serious hamstring injuries – one to each leg – with Morris making one and then eight starts, respectively, over those campaigns.
However, new Swedish boss Jimmy Thelin, who arrived from Elfsborg with a reputation for a style of play reliant on pacey wingers, has started Morris on the right of the attack in all five competitive games of his tenure so far.
And Devlin said: “I think he’s started the season really well.
“I actually think he started it really well last year – obviously he was playing a wee bit out of position at wing-back – before he got an injury.
“The biggest thing with Shayden and wide players is they aren’t always going to be 10 out of 10 every week. It’s just the position they play and it’s much easier to be consistent as a full-back or a defender.
“Being a winger, you have to be the one that creates stuff and scores goals.
“Shayden is still a young boy who’s learning and learning a new way the manager wants him to play. Hopefully it will suit him.
“He’s scored already this season, and got a couple of assists as well.
“Everyone knows what Shayden can bring and he’s obviously a threat for any team we come up against, because his pace is something a lot of teams don’t have.
“We just have find the best way to use Shayden’s strengths.
“And hopefully the way the manager has set us up to play will bring the best out of him.”
Devlin: Bojan Miovski’s attitude to speculation has been brilliant – and other strikers can fill void
Following Monday’s opening 2-1 Premiership win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, Aberdeen are preparing to meet St Mirren at Pittodrie on Sunday afternoon.
In the build-up to game, star striker Bojan Miovski’s exit from the club has moved closer than at any point during the summer of speculation so far, with Spanish side Girona now expected to land the 25-year-old frontman, who netted 26 times last season.
It is uncertain whether Miovski will still be a Dons player by this weekend’s match, but Devlin praised the North Macedonian for his level-headedness.
He said: “Everyone at the club knew this talk was going to happen – it was a given with how good he was last year.
“His attitude’s been brilliant to be fair.
“In the Airdrie game (comeback 2-1 League Cup win), when we needed a lift at half-time, he came on and gave us that.
“On Monday (against Saints), he probably wasn’t up to match speed, but he plays 90 minutes.
“His stats, his running stuff – he’s at the top of everything.
“That’s the attitude, the way he goes about and conducts himself.”
Though Miovski was still training at Cormack Park on Friday, Devlin thinks the Dons have – in Ester Sokler, Pape Habib Gueye and Peter Ambrose – the firepower to sink the Buddies should their main man be gone by the weekend.
He added: “We’ve got boys who will be able to step up if Bojan’s not going to be involved.
“Ester’s got four goals already – which I think is about what he got last year.
“Pape as well has come back and looked really good, and Peter is off the mark as well.
“We’ve got boys there who can come in and fill that void.
“It’s not about replacing someone – people have got different strengths, and if Ester’s going to be the striker, we have to find his strengths, the way we’ve done with Bojan.”
Devlin targets more goals this season
A summer 2023 signing from Livingston, 30-year-old Devlin is into the final year of his own contract at Aberdeen.
Having previously cut a relaxed figure on his future, he once again insisted he is in “love” with life at Aberdeen – but is taking an “if you perform well, it takes care of itself” view on extending his stay.
The full-back’s opener at St Johnstone – a first-half header from a corner – won’t have harmed his cause.
On his goal, Devlin said: “Everyone across the squad, especially the boys who were here last year, knows probably everybody has to chip in a bit more this year, and we probably left quite a lot of it down to Bojan last year.”
‘We can’t affect how St Mirren react to Conference League efforts’
Last season, Devlin experienced Aberdeen’s Europa League play-off and Europa Conference League group campaign, which – while providing some fantastic moments – was blamed for a stuttering Premiership effort and the Dons eventually finishing in the bottom half of the table.
Sunday’s opponents St Mirren will arrive at Pittodrie fresh from a Thursdsay night Conference League qualifying ding-dong with Norway’s SK Brann in Paisley.
However, Devlin reckons a late leveller to secure a 1-1 European draw will have confidence flowing through the Buddies players, after they also beat Hibs 3-0 in the top-flight last weekend.
He thinks it is important Aberdeen do not expect their opponents to arrive feeling the effects of their Continental endeavours, saying: “We have to concentrate on what we can do. We can’t affect St Mirren’s preparation or how they’re going to react after playing their game on Thursday.
“Things like that only become an advantage if we use it as such. We have to be fully at it, and I think we feel – if we’re there 100% – we’ll be able to win the game.
“We probably concentrated too much on other teams last year, and looked at outside noise too much.
“I imagine they’ll probably make a couple of changes from the team that played, but if you score a goal last minute to get a positive result, especially in a European competition, you’re always going to come up with confidence.”
Aberdeen aim for stronger league home record
Due to their post-Europe blues last season, Aberdeen struggled for any early victories in the Premiership – their first coming in late September.
Having started the new league campaign with an away win, Devlin is now eager to lay down the Pittodrie groundwork this term.
He said: “We want to perform at home and make Aberdeen a tougher place for teams to come than last year – it was too easy for them to come up here and take points off us.
“We have to change that this year, and we know if we have a strong home record, it will put us in a strong position in the league come the end of the season.”
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