Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Boss Jimmy Thelin hails midfield partners Graeme Shinnie and Sivert Heltne Nilsen for pushing Aberdeen to higher levels

Summer signing Heltne Nilsen has quickly forged a formidable partnership with captain Shinnie in midfield.

Aberdeen's Graeme Shinnie and Sivert Heltne Nilsen celebrate as Topi Keskinen scores to make it 1-0 against Queen's Park. Image: SNS
Aberdeen's Graeme Shinnie and Sivert Heltne Nilsen celebrate as Topi Keskinen scores to make it 1-0 against Queen's Park. Image: SNS

Boss Jimmy Thein has hailed midfield duo Graeme Shinnie and Sivert Heltne Nilsen for pushing Aberdeen to higher levels in a winning start to the season.

Swede Thelin boasts a 100% record as Dons boss having secured seven wins from the first seven matches in all competitions.

It is the best start to a Pittodrie career of any manager in the club’s 121-year history.

Thelin reckons the energy, drive and passion of midfield partners Shinnie and summer signing Heltne Nilsen have been key to that red hot start.

The Dons reckons Shinnie and Heltne Nilsen push the Dons to “extra steps”.

Heltne Nilsen was secured in a £300,000 transfer this summer from Norwegian top flight club Brann.

The 32-year-old was captain of SK Brann before completing his switch to Pittodrie.

Thelin had previously managed Heltne Nilsen at Elfsborg fr0m 2019 to 2021 when the midfielder was skipper.

Heltne Nilsen captained Elfsborg to a Swedish top flight runners-up finish in 2020.

Sivert Heltne Nilsen (6) of Aberdeen during the Premier Sports Scottish League Cup match against Queen's Park. Image: Shutterstock
Aberdeen midfielder Sivert Heltne Nilsen in action against Queen’s Park. Image: Shutterstock

He said: “Sivert is really vocal and talks to everyone.

“I really like his energy.

“Sometimes when the players are tired Sivert keeps pushing them and they can do extra.

“Sivert is a good player who can really bring that energy.

“Also with Graeme Shinnie, the way he runs, they are a great mix.

“They push the teams to extra steps.”

Aberdeen’s Topi Keskinen celebrates with Graeme Shinnie after scoring the winner to beat Queen’s Park 1-0. Image: SNS

The right character for Aberdeen

Following Heltne Nilsen’s transfer to Pittodrie boss Thelin immediately pitched him into the starting line-up.

The midfielder made his starting debut in the 3-0 Premier Sports Cup group stage win at Queen of the South just three days after signing.

Heltne Nilsen has started every game he has been available for Thelin.

The midfielder missed the 4-0 win at East Kilbride due to a suspension that followed him from Norway.

New signing Sivert Heltne Nilsen at the club's Cormack Park training complex. Image: SNS
New signing Sivert Heltne Nilsen at the club’s Cormack Park training complex. Image: SNS

The midfielder was red carded after just 10 minutes in his last game for Brann before transferring to Aberdeen – a 5-1 loss at league leaders Bodø/Glimt.

During his career Heltne Nilsen has captained AC Horsens (Denmark), Elfsborg and Brann.

At Aberdeen the midfielder has quickly established himself as leader, like influential captain Shinne.

Heltne Nilsen is one of six permanent summer signings secured by Thelin during the summer transfer window.

Sivert Heltne Nilsen applauds Aberdeen fans after the 3-1 defeat of St Mirren at Pittodrie. Image: Shutterstock
Sivert Heltne Nilsen applauds Aberdeen fans after the 3-1 defeat of St Mirren at Pittodrie. Image: Shutterstock

Asked if character is a key factor when sourcing signings, Thelin said: “Yes, because football is a team game.

“You need to grow as a player and you need your teammates and to give something back to them.

“You have a common goal in the responsibility to play for Aberdeen.

“A strong dressing room is needed and a clear direction that everyone in the dressing room is pushing to grow.

“Then you can add individual goals. Maybe somebody will develop and move on.

“That is fine but when you are here you need to focus on improving yourself and fighting for Aberdeen.”

Aberdeen midfielder Sivert Heltne Nilsen in action against Queen’s Park. Image; Shutterstock

‘A lot of things to work on’

Aberdeen will bid to extend their winning streak to eight games when hosting Kilmarnock at Pittodrie on Sunday.

Kilmarnock, managed by former Dons boss Derek McInnes, will play the Dons three days after facing FC Copenhagen in Denmark in the UEFA Conference League play-off.

Aberdeen's Topi Keskinen scores the winner in the 1-0 defeat of Queen's Park. Image: SNS.
Aberdeen’s Topi Keskinen scores the winner in the 1-0 defeat of Queen’s Park. Image: SNS.

Thelin said: “We have a lot of things to work on this week in training to keep improving and learning.

“We still need to speed up as against Queen’s Park it was not easy to find that goal when the opponents defended quite deep.

“It was not an open game, it was quite closed.

“We were quite methodical in how we played and we need to add more plays inside the box.

“We will learn things about ourselves and what we need to improve.”

Conversation