Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin insists he has 100% confidence in Jack Milne and James McGarry to play their part when called upon.
Both full-backs have been peripheral figures this season, with the Dons manager fielding a largely unchanged back four of Nicky Devlin, Slobodan Rubezic, Gavin Molloy and Jack MacKenzie.
McGarry has yet to play a league game this season – with all of his four appearances for the Aberdeen in this campaign coming in the Premier Sports Cup.
Milne has made seven appearances, with four in the league and three in the League Cup.
Dons boss Thelin has been encouraged by the progress of both players this season and says Milne and McGarry have his total backing.
Thelin said: “Usually when you start a new season, you want to get some parts like a core to be stable, but I think the improvement of Jimmy McGarry and Jack Milne has been really, really good and also how they have grown.
“It’s a lot of improvements, and when it’s time for them, I’m going to trust them 100 per cent.
“Jimmy is still really, really strong in attacking, but also have improvements in positional play in a four-back line.
“That’s really nice to see – even if they haven’t played so much, but they play at training, 11 vs 11 – and how they take small steps in the right direction all the time.
“That’s so nice with football. Sometimes the opportunity or the things happen and then the dynamics change.
“I’m 100 per cent sure it’s going to be fine when they get the time to play.”
‘There has been huge improvement’ in Jack Milne
Milne’s chance could come this weekend, with the defender on standby to make his first league start on Sunday at Hearts if Devlin, who limped off in the closing stages of Tuesday’s 3-3 draw at Hibernian, fails to recover in time for the trip to Tynecastle.
Thelin said: “Jack can play both centre-back and full-back, and how I see how he conducts himself now and he has grown in this situation.
“There has been a huge improvement in his understanding of the game.”
Thelin insists there are no shortcuts
Aberdeen’s outstanding start to the campaign has hit a bump in the road in the last two away matches, with Hibernian’s late equaliser on Tuesday denying the Dons a return to winning ways following their weekend defeat at St Mirren.
While there is disappointment at not holding on for all three points at Hibs, the Aberdeen boss is not concerned by the dip in results.
Thelin has regularly expressed his belief he is at the start of a three-year plan with his squad and the club, and is trying to find improvement in the short, medium and longer-term.
He said: “Everybody was a bit disappointed for the last chance and the last goal to score, but it was a huge learning point for us.
“We also we have to think about the positive things and try to come back.
“For me, it’s different. One thing is how we have a bigger idea to grow, how we can improve our recruitment, how we train, the pathway for talent – that’s a longer term because it takes time.
“It’s not just ‘do this’ and now it’s working, or tell someone who is this age: ‘Now you have to be this good in two months.’ It’s impossible. You have to make the journey.
“Sometimes it happens quicker, sometimes it takes longer time. That’s one thing.
“During a season, it’s also really short term, game by game.
“You have to have the long term in mind to be consistent, but also now we have to find the best solutions for now.
“It’s also a short-term job. You have to do the first part of the season and see the trends – how we perform.
“If you need to adjust something or change something. Then you have game by game. It’s also short, medium and long term at the same time.”
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