Jim Goodwin has jumped to the defence of David Bates and insisted he has had to play out of position for Aberdeen.
The Scotland international came in for some stinging criticism from his own fans at times last season but his boss claimed he was putting himself before the team.
Bates played the majority of his games at left centre-half, despite being predominantly right-footed.
And the best of Bates will be seen when Goodwin can bring in a left-footed centre-half in the coming weeks, insists the Pittodrie gaffer.
Goodwin said: “I felt for David a lot. I did it myself in the latter stages of my career at St Mirren where I played left centre-half.
“It is a disadvantage as instead of playing the ball up the line you are turning back inside and that’s where the trouble happens.
“It is fair to say David has played most of the season out of position. We do need a left-sided centre-half and that is something we’re working on.
“We’re close to getting a good one over the line if not by the end of this week but by next week and once we get everything announced it’s one supporters will be excited about.
“We had a lot of right- footers in the team last season with no real balance in the backline or the top end of the pitch so we have to do something about that if we can.”
Young Aberdeen midfielder Connor Barron was one of the main positives from a disappointing second half of the season. And Goodwin has insisted former boss Stephen Glass deserves all the plaudits on that front.
Glass took him back from a successful loan spell at Kelty Hearts and threw him into the Dons first-team in January.
Barron has kicked on and his form has seen him become a big part of the Scotland under-21 set-up.
Goodwin said: “He’s not one I can take a great deal of credit for, I’ve just kept him in the team.
“Stephen was the one who brought him back from Kelty and recognised something in him.
“Bravery is when you’re in a hostile environment like Parkhead or Ibrox where there are 60,000, having the courage to take the ball under pressure and demand the ball off the full-backs or centre-halves. Connor does that for us.
“Connor is also capable of playing a little bit further forward. He has great balance and the ability to drive at people.
"Some people think you have to have wingers and drive at people but something we haven’t had since I came in is players who will take the ball on the half turn and drive at players.”
Goodwin’s told the youngster he can’t rest on his laurels. Albanian midfielder Ylber Ramadani from MTK Budapest will be one of the Dons’ first new arrivals.
And Goodwin, speaking to RedTV, added: “It’s important to remind ourselves Connor is 19 and has only had a handful of games in the first team.
“He is a big part of our plans. But we’re looking to strengthen that area as we don’t want Connor thinking he’s a mainstay. We want him thinking if he drops his standards he’ll be out the team and that comes back to recruitment.
“There shouldn’t be a single player in the team who thinks it doesn’t matter what they do in the game they will be in the team next week.”
