Stephen Glass has insisted that Aberdeen wanted Bruce Anderson to stay – but the striker was determined to move to Livingston.
The 23-year-old forward made his summer switch to the Tony Macaroni Stadium and has already hit double figures for the season.
Glass admitted he and the Dons wanted him to stay but Anderson was adamant he wanted a fresh start and the chance to make a name for himself at the Lions – who then paid the training compensation.
He will be the main threat to the Dons as they had to West Lothian today.
Glass said: “He’s done really well. It’s no surprise to us. He wanted the challenge of being there, of being one of the top boys.
“He’s thriving which, for the club, is good to see. You never know what happens further down the line. We like to see boys who have come through the system here go and have good careers. We’re pleased for him.
“It was pretty much about allowing him to go out and get games. There was an opportunity to stay but he chose to leave because he felt there was something better for him.
“We all like Bruce and know what he could become, but at the age he was at, he’d been on the periphery for too long.
“He goes to a club, gets the No.9 jersey, and is told he’ll be one of the main centre-forwards, I think that was attractive to him. It’s good to see. He didn’t leave on bad terms. If you see a young, local guy doing well, it’s good.”
Anderson’s form has had the Red Army talking at a time when they are still short of striking options, with Marley Watkins injured. Glass confirmed he has his eye on an out-of-contract target or two but faces a fight to get them to Pittodrie.
He said: “We’d like to. There are limited numbers of these guys around. But it’s something we’d like to do.
“There are a couple of things out there we’re looking at the moment to see if we can do it and see if we’re attractive to those players.”
Livingston boss Davie Martindale said he expects Aberdeen to finish in the top four. Glass knows Livi won’t do them any favours, especially as the Dons have already beaten them twice this season.
He said: “Yeah, it’s nice when other managers talk about your group like that.
“Davie’s clever as well so maybe he’s trying to be nice… The calm before the storm.
“I think there’s a recognition that we’ve got a good squad of players who should be higher up the table.
“I think Livingston are one of the teams we’ve done particularly well against but it’s important that it continues.
“Davie will have his players in our faces and desperate to win.
“After the disappointment of the other night as well, we know what he’s capable of driving his team onto. They’re capable of beating everybody in this league.”
Aberdeen lost away to St Mirren and despite their dominance in Dingwall could only take a point away from Ross County in midweek.
It has been a struggle for Aberdeen away from Pittodrie and defender David Bates isn’t sure why that’s the case.
“I can’t really put my finger on it,” said Bates. “It’s one that’s frustrating us all at the moment.
“We can’t really get our performances going. It is very frustrating because we try to prepare right but it isn’t coming together really.”
Bates also accepts his team needs to start keeping more clean sheets to see games out.
He said: “The performance was better than St Mirren. We were really poor against St Mirren, we knew that as a team.
“It was frustrating but we had a good training week to work on things. There was an improvement against Ross County but not getting the three points was frustrating. Not keeping the clean sheet was frustrating on my part.
“Hopefully, we can go and can get the three points.”
