Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin has backed striker Kevin Nisbet to make a major impact during his season-long loan spell.
Scotland international Nisbet made his debut off the bench in the 2-0 win against Kilmarnock just 24 hours after arriving on loan from Millwall.
Aberdeen fought of interest from clubs in England and Scotland, including Nisbet’s former club Hibs, to land the 27-year-old.
Thelin moved swiftly with the capture of Nisbet to bolster his attack following the sale of goal hero Bojan Miovski to Girona for a club record fee.
Miovski netted 44 goals across two seasons for the Dons before securing a move to the Spanish top-flight.
Thelin warns the goal-scoring burden cannot be placed purely on Nisbet, and the Dons boss says Nisbet will be given time to settle in, having played just six minutes for Millwall this season before switching to Pittodrie.
But the Swede reckons Nisbet, who transferred to the Lions from Hibs for £2 million last summer, will bring goals and much more to Aberdeen.
Thelin said: “We just need to give Kevin time and not put it all on his shoulders.
“We have good strikers in the team.
“Kevin has only just arrived and we are going to build him up.
“He is really good inside the box, but also he can press opponents.
“Kevin is very clever with pressing.
“He is also a really strong link-up player.
“Like the other players arriving, we will give it some time and then Kevin will make a big impact.”
‘It is good to have characters like Kevin’
Nisbet scored five goals in 29 appearances (18 starts) for Millwall last season.
He netted 12 goals for Hibs in the 2022-23 campaign, despite having missed the first half of the season through injury.
Nisbet’s first game of that season was in mid-December, as he was ruled out with a knee ligament injury suffered in the previous campaign.
Aberdeen have a huge goal-scoring void to fill following the transfer of Miovski to Girona earlier this month.
The Dons secured an initial £4.5m. but could bank up to £9m from the Miovski deal with achievable add-ons and a sell-on.
Thelin does not anticipate any expectation to deliver goal’s after Miovski’s strike rate to affect Nisbet.
On pressure, Thelin said: “That is no problem.
“It is good to have characters like Kevin and how they compete.
“A player needs to find a rhythm within the team.
“Kevin had one training session before the Kilmarnock game.
“He is a clever player so will learn quickly – I will not worry about that.”
Nisbet’s Scotland recall target
Nisbet recently said he was determined to force his way back into the Scotland international set-up during his loan spell at Aberdeen.
The striker has been capped 11 times, with his international debut coming in 4-0 win against Faroe Islands at Hampden in March 2021.
He netted in his next Scotland appearance – a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands.
Nisbet featured as a substitute in all three of Scotland’s group games in the Euro finals later that summer – Czechia (2-0 loss), England (0-0) and Croatia (3-1 loss).
He last played for Scotland in a 2-0 Eur0 2024 qualifier win against Georgia at Hampden on May 20 last year.
Nisbet missed out on Steve Clarke’s squad for the Euro 2024 finals because he had only recently returned from injury.
Thelin is confident Aberdeen can help Nisbet realise his international return aspirations.
On the Scotland squad, Thelin said: “That is one of the reasons we brought him in.
“Kevin is a good solution and will give us something.
“But also we can help him with something by being a big part of Aberdeen.”
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