COVID WON’T DERAIL DONS, SAYS GLASS

STEPHEN GLASS insists Aberdeen won’t enter their European campaign underprepared, despite Covid-19 disrupting their pre-season plans. The Dons face BK Hacken of Sweden at Pittodrie tomorrow night in the second qualifying round of the inaugural Europa Conference League. But the Pittodrie side saw their preparations hampered when friendlies against Cove Rangers and Reading at Cormack Park were cancelled due to outbreaks of the virus. However, manager Glass is adamant his players will be up to speed against a team 11 matches into the season in the Swedish top flight. ‘I am happy, as a group, where we are at, given we are playing a team already into their season,’ said Glass (right). ‘We respect BK Hacken. It’s going to be difficult but we believe we’ve prepared properly. With the Cove Rangers postponement, (Cove manager) Paul Hartley was really good because we were playing on the Thursday and he let us know on the Tuesday. ‘That meant we were able to change our training and we got a better week’s training because we were able to drive the players a wee bit longer. ‘We then ended up giving players the 60 minutes they would have got against Cove in an inter-squad game, so that didn’t affect us. ‘The Reading cancellation affected us a bit more. ‘It meant we had to pick a group to work with ahead of Thursday’s match. ‘But we have managed to get another game this Friday against Cove Rangers and the players who don’t play on Thursday will play on Friday, so our pre-season is well-balanced.’ Glass has a full squad to choose from apart from Scotland defender Declan Gallagher, who is suspended after being sent off for Motherwell in the Europa League against Israelis Hapoel Be’er Sheva last season. The Dons manager, meanwhile, is looking forward to watching his new captain, Scott Brown, leading by example on his competitive debut and hopefully emulating some of his Celtic Park success in the Granite City. He said: ‘Scott is going to lead the group with his experience but he’s also going to lead the group with his quality on the pitch. ‘I think people think he’s a leader in there, shouting and bawling, but he’s a very, very good footballer and I think people forget that when you talk about Scott. ‘I think the players here have a different respect for him now that he’s in their team. ‘He was in a team (Celtic) playing at the top end of the league and teams like that can carry players. ‘But I think Scott has shown that he was one of the driving forces of that success. I’m hoping that continues here and I’m sure it will.’ Glass has also backed new United States international striker Christian Ramirez to prove a smash hit with Aberdeen after signing last month. He said: ‘It was a big statement for us to get a player like that and it was a big statement by him to take the cut that he did in his salary. ‘He wants to be a high-profile player for us. He’s fit and ready to play.’