CHRISTIAN WILL RETURN FRESH FOR NEW TERM

JIM GOODWIN hopes a buckshee break will ensure bushwhacked striker Christian Ramirez returns to Aberdeen refreshed for pre-season.

The American striker has been allowed to return to the US having been given an early holiday by his Pittodrie boss.

It means the 31-year-old has kicked his final ball of the campaign and will sit out the two remaining games against St Johnstone tonight and St Mirren on Saturday.

But Goodwin fully expects to see Ramirez back ahead of the new Premiership campaign despite speculation suggesting his time in Scotland might soon be up.

The Dons boss, who has also allowed on-loan Teddy Jenks to return to parent club Brighton early, said: “We’ve given Christian an extra week off and allowed him to go back to America to be with his family. They obviously left a couple of weeks ago.

“With our safety confirmed last weekend we decided to give the big man an extra week’s holiday because of his busy schedule prior to coming to Scotland with the MLS.

“I’m hoping it will do him the world of good.

“The big man’s attitude in training has been spot on and he’s been working hard but for whatever reason it hasn’t quite worked out for him in games.

“I did feel a couple of weeks ago he was looking a little bit fatigued. We weren’t quite getting the data back we wanted in terms of the numbers when you look at the GPS stuff after the game.

“Hopefully he comes back refreshed for the pre-season.”

Fit-again Matty Kennedy and youngster Liam Harvey will join Goodwin’s squad for tonight’s Perth trip.

And Goodwin is keen to get a closer look at the pair. He said: “I tried to get Matty on numerous occasions when I was at St Mirren.

“When he left St Johnstone we made him an offer. Then last January we tried to get him in on loan. The deal was almost done but because of the injuries we decided not to go through with it.

“I’m delighted Kevin Bain, the new head of medicine here, has managed to get some confidence back into Matty, reassuring him that everything is okay now.

“He should crack on and finish the season in as positive a manner as possible.

“We’ll also bring Liam into the fold. He has been doing exceptionally well with the Under-18s. He deserves to rewarded with a place on the bench. We’re excited to see how he gets on being in and around the group.”