Kelle Roos is set to start the Premiership season as Aberdeen’s new number one with Joe Lewis facing a huge fight to reclaim his place between the sticks.
Dons boss Jim Goodwin revealed he has spoken to stalwart Lewis about the situation and told him summer signing Roos has his hands firmly on the jersey with just 12 days until the curtain raiser at Celtic Park. The Dutchman will start for a third successive Premier Sports Cup tie against Stirling Albion this evening.
But while former captain Lewis has been dethroned, Goodwin is preparing to unveil the ‘Duk’ - Luis Lopes - in the clash at Forthbank. Lopes made the £400,000 switch to Pittodrie from Benfica B last week and last night the Visa process was completed in time for the 22-year-old to take his place in tonight's squad.
Should that be the case, he will find himself beside Lewis who after six seasons and 207 Aberdeen appearances now finds himself playing back-up in the goalkeeping stakes. Goodwin said: "I'm not into rotating and moving things about too much as I take this competition very seriously.
"Kelle has got the jersey at the moment and kept a couple of clean sheets. I've had a conversation with Joe about the situation and he knows he had a poor season last time.
"He's honest enough to admit that but he has come back in terrific form in pre-season. So we have got a battle on there but Roos has the jersey at the moment knowing the level of competition behind him. He needs to keep his standards up and I don't care who it is everybody has to play to their highest level to stay in the team."
Lopes arrived at Pittodrie as Goodwin’s seventh summer signing last week and trained over the weekend while waiting on the paperwork to be completed on his move from Portugal. While the striker could feature tonight, the game comes too soon for fellow new signing Bojan Miovski while Connor Barron is also set to miss out again through injury.
Goodwin, who is targeting another three new signings in this window, said: “Lopes is in the country.
“In training today he showed some of his qualities in terms of his finishing. He has a hell of a strike on him from distance and always seems to work the goalkeeper.
"He is very good with his back to goal and links the game up well. He has good pace and power.
“What I have seen in the flesh backs up the footage I have watched and backs up all the reports I have had from the recruitment team that have seen him live. He can play off the left and off the right and can also play directly through the middle as well."
“Miovski is probably another two or three days away. I would be confident of having him available for the Raith Rovers game.”
Goodwin praised the Dons board for their backing in the window and insists he’s not finished yet. He said: “The board deserve to be congratulated for their level of investment as we paid a hefty transfer fee for Miovski.
"We had to pay money to get Richardson out of Forest, Ramadani out of MTK and prior to me coming in big investment in Besuijen as well. It's great that I'm at a club where those sorts of resources are available but it not an endless pot of money.
“But the budget will be up there with Hibs, Hearts and Dundee United. I would still like another attacking midfielder and defender as well as a central midfielder."
Meanwhile, Dons youngster Mason Hancock is determined to build on his breakthrough. The left-back could start a third game in succession this evening against the side he spent the second half of last season on loan with.
And he said: “It’s been a really good start to the season. It’s what you aim for as a young player in pre-season, can you break through?
“You do everything you can to impress so to get that moment means a lot to me and my family so I’m very happy. It’s hard not to think about whether you will get the chance but I felt like I’d done enough so it was nice to hear.
“The Stirling loan did me the world of good, getting men’s football. It’s a big step up at Aberdeen but in all fairness Stirling can take some credit for getting me ready for it.
“Darren Young was the manager. We had some good chats and he couldn’t stress enough that I am in the right place to develop.
“This is the perfect place for me right now. He has a lot of good stuff to say about the club.
“His information to me was just to believe in yourself. Know you’ve got it, know you can do it and just work hard on and off the pitch.
“You can see the benefits of loan spells like that with Connor Barron. Obviously Connor was in the same league as I was and done really, really well there. He came back and has done really well here so it shows that it can be done, playing for a lower league team and making the step up."
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