Scott Ross is pleased with the defensive options Cove Rangers have but feels they will need time to gel together.
Three of the back five that started against Falkirk on Saturday were new arrivals, with only Ross and Harry Milne part of Cove’s squad last season.
Goalkeeper Kyle Gourlay, Morgyn Neill and Shay Logan were all handed starts against the Bairns, who were the better side at the Balmoral Stadium.
Logan started having not had a pre-season and no match practice. Iain Vigurs, Robbie Leitch and Ross Draper also started in midfield, with Jevan Anderson the only one of the new signings not to start.
Ross, who moved back to centre-half after playing last season at right-back, believes more is to come from the summer additions.
He said: “You need time. Six boys started on Saturday that weren’t here last year, so you’re going to need time to gel and get that connection we had last year.
“That will come with training, team nights, things like that. It will come.
“I played centre-back my whole life. I played right-back last season, but I’m just happy to go do a job. I’ll give it my all wherever I play.
“I think we’ve got eight defenders now who can say they should be playing. It’s good to have that competition there. It makes sure you’re on top of your game every week.
“For myself and Morgyn it was the first competitive game we’d played together. Shay has only just come in, but you can see he’s a top-class player.
“Harry (Milne) is probably up against the best player in the Falkirk team (Callumn Morrison) and was one-v-one quite a lot.
“They had a few crosses into the box but nine times out ten, myself or Morgyn were there to clear it.”
Cove were grateful to striker Rory McAllister for grabbing a point, with the experienced striker coming off the bench to score an opportunistic goal.
Ross added: “That’s Rory for you – he’ll come on and score a goal. He’ll always create chances when he’s on because he’s a nuisance. He’s a great player to have.”
The Aberdeen side were far from their best at the Balmoral Stadium, having trailed to a Aidan Nesbitt goal, but Ross felt they take positives from emerging with a point.
He said: “It was a difficult game for us and we didn’t play the way we normally play. Falkirk probably pushed us in ways we haven’t been pushed in pre-season. They had many midfield runners and clearly had a gameplan.
“To come away, having not played well, with a point against Falkirk who are a full-time team, then you’ve got to look at it as a point gained.”