Barry Robson has revealed Aberdeen winger Shayden Morris is set to miss the rest of the season.
The 21-year-old arrived in the Scottish Premiership from Fleetwood in the summer for a six-figure fee but has struggled for game time. Morris hasn’t been involved in recent squads and interim boss Robson said: “Shayden is injured for the season so you’re a player light there as well. He has been in a brace for a while, it was a real bad bit of his hamstring. He’s really struggling with it at the minute so we need to look after him. It’s going to be a long-term one.”
Robson was asked to move into the Aberdeen hot seat after Jim Goodwin was sacked and had to make immediate decisions on the transfer front. He took the call to send captain Anthony Stewart out on loan while Vicente Besuijen returned to Holland with Excelsior on deadline day on a loan deal with an option to buy in the summer.
Rumours had been rife that Besuijen had fallen out with Goodwin and was set to quit. Robson said: “Vinny’s deal was already in place before I took charge. That was already over the line.”
Robson brought in Dilian Markanday on loan from Blackburn to strengthen their attacking options but most of the late business was done on the defence. Keeper Jay Gorter, who made his debut in the weekend win over Motherwell, came in along with defenders Mattie Pollock and Angus MacDonald, who have played in Aberdeen’s last two games.
Robson thinks his squad is now better balanced for the second half of the season. He said: “Dilian can play through the middle as well so he’s not just a wide player.
“You’ve also got to remember I came in 36 hours before the window was going to close. I didn’t know what had been happening before that so I had to make some decisions quickly. I think I made the right decisions with the knowledge I had at that time and after speaking to people at the club. I’m quite pleased with what happened.”
A lot of the deals were continuations under director of football Steven Gunn’s scouting team. All the January deals are until the end of the season other than Patrik Myslovic, who comes in on loan from Zilna but there is an option to buy on Aberdeen’s side come the summer.
Robson said: “The biggest thing is we didn’t try to recruit or do anything that was going to be longer-term. We’ve got a great squad here as it is and so whatever the new manager wants to do when come in there aren’t any new players signed on long contracts.
“It didn’t feel it was the right time to do business for a long-term player. The summer is the best time to do that. We had to protect the club a bit as well.”
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