Aberdeen coach Peter Leven insists the needs of young players must come first as the club prepare for European youth league football with a weakened squad next month.
Under-18 coaches Scott Anderson and Stuart Duff will be without four members of their CAS Elite Under-18 League championship-winning side when they lead the young Dons into their Uefa Youth League match against Puskas Akademia next month.
An Aberdeen under-19 side will face the team from Hungary on Wednesday, October 23, at Pittodrie with details on the away tie expected soon.
Excitement is building ahead of the clash – but The Press and Journal can reveal the Dons will go into Europe without the services of four players, as Alfie Bavidge, Adam Emslie, Findlay Marshall and Blair McKenzie are all ineligible.
The club’s decision to send the quartet on loan this season to Scottish lower league sides means they cannot represent Aberdeen in European action.
Aberdeen Uefa Youth League: Decisions had to be made
It was a difficult decision, but one Leven – a first-team coach, as well as first-team interim manager last season – believes had to be made with the young players’ development in mind.
He said: “Scotty and Duffer are excited for Europe, as are the whole club and hopefully we can get a good crowd at Pittodrie for the game.
“Scotty had a lot to think about and we had some big decisions to make within the club about who should we put on loan and hold back to make it a decent enough squad to challenge.
“We decided we had to do right by the players and what was best for them in terms of their development.
“Adam, Marsh, Bav and Blair are all out getting experience at a good level, but we’ve obviously kept a couple back as we want to be competitive.”
Aberdeenshire competition tests are good for the players
While some of the players will be absent from European competition, Emslie, Marshall and McKenzie all featured in the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup win at Dyce last week.
Leven believes the blend of youth and experience, allied to the loan players’ opportunity to show how they are progressing at their loan clubs when they get the chance to join their clubmates, is important for the club, who will face Banks o’ Dee in the semi-final on October 2.
He said: “The Aberdeenshire cup competitions are vital for the young boys and obviously the older lads who are out on loan – as it is a chance for them to show how they are developing out on loan playing men’s football against experienced players.
“Our squad is a mixed bag. We’ve got with players on loan playing at a decent level, young players like Fletcher Boyd and Lewis Carroll, who are just 16, and young Zak To coming through as well.
“It’s Joseph Teasdale’s first year in the academy as well, so it’s great to see them coming through.”
Young players benefiting from first-team training sessions – with Lobban converted to right-back
Competitive matches are important for the youngsters, but Leven insists opportunities to train with the first-team squad at Cormack Park are also paying dividends.
The younger players are following the same high-pressing approach of the first team squad under Jimmy Thelin, while under-18 player Dylan Lobban – who captained the youth side at Ian Mair Park last week – is also adapting to a new role at right-back.
Leven said: “They are all good players, but how hard they worked for each other is good.
“We are trying to implement things from the first team, so they know how that works – most of them train with the first-team.
“Dylan Lobban is doing well. He has been training with the first-team as a right back, because we only have Nicky Devlin in that position, and obviously Jack Milne can cover as well.
“Dylan has been doing it for a number of weeks now. He seems to like it.
“He is enjoying it as he is getting more of the ball. It is something we are looking to develop it.”
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