Jim Goodwin is confident that Leighton Clarkson and Liam Scales will be given the green light to see out the season at Euro-chasing Aberdeen.
Scales is currently on-loan from Celtic, while Clarkson has arrived at Pittodrie in a similar move from Liverpool. Both parent clubs have recall options in January and although Goodwin doesn’t expect those to be triggered. He has lined up alternatives in the event of that worst case scenario. Goodwin explained: “Stephen Gunn (director of football) has been in contact with Liverpool about Leighton Clarkson and with Celtic about Scales. At the moment we are confident that both will be part of our plans when the January window closes but we do have contingency plans in place just in case something were to happen.
The pair have been influential players for the Dons and a big part in them going into the World Cup break in third place. Clarkson’s midfield guile and trickery has given them an extra edge and he also has an eye for goal as he already showed out in America this week, with the goal of the game in Wednesday’s win over Atlanta United XI.
Celtic also had a lot of central defensive cover and so Goodwin believes he would benefit from getting regular first-team football. Goodwin claimed: “If Celtic were to get a load of injuries over the next month or two they might think they need that defensive cover but Celtic have been great in terms of making that deal happen and if they do decide they want to take Liam back, which I don’t think they will as they have enough cover. I am sure they would give us enough notice.”
The Dons are out in Georgia for the rest of the week, visiting their partner club. Aberdeen have taken out a strong squad although their International players are missing. The likes of Scales, Bojan Miovski, Ylber Ramadani, Connor Barron and Ryan Duncan are all away with their respective national sides.
Scales was in the squad for Republic of Ireland’s friendly with Norway. The Irishman has been capped in the under-age groups and Goodwin admitted giving him the platform to break into Stephen Kenny’s full-team was a big selling point in getting him to Aberdeen. The Aberdeen manager stated: “Liam has been outstanding and I am over the moon for him because I know how much representing Ireland means to him.”
The Dons are also hoping the luckless Callum Roberts will be fit and ready to get his Aberdeen career going after the World Cup break. The winger was signed from Notts County in July but he suffered a serious hamstring injury just weeks into his Dons career, when he came off the bench and pulled up against St Mirren in August.
Goodwin signed him because he has dovetailed well with fellow summer signing Jayden Richardson together at Notts last season, but the Aberdeen fans will need to wait a bit longer to see that happen in red and white. “We are hopeful," Goodwin admitted. "He did have a slight setback last week but we are hopeful it is not going to be anything major.
“He has had a serious operation and sometimes these things take time. He is making great progress but we are not going to put a time on it. Hopefully we will get him back involved after the World Cup. If it takes a little bit longer, so be it.”
Aberdeen are also working on their January transfer plans. Miovski has been linked with French side Stade de Reims but there has been no contact with the player or the club. Goodwin revealed that head of scouting Darren Mowbray, who is currently out in Atlanta with the team, has recently been out in Ghana scouting.
READ NEXT
