Dons look to the general role

Mark McGhee has told his Aberdeen squad that the captaincy is still up for grabs as he intends on rotating the armband throughout the pre-season campaign.

McGhee has wiped the slate clean at Pittodrie and insists he will assess the attributes of his squad before choosing an on-field general.

The skipper role is vacant following Scott Severin’s departure to Watford and, although last season’s vice-captain Zander Diamond will be favourite to step up, McGhee is making no assurances at this stage.

He is determined to select the right player for such an important duty and said: “I have not named a captain yet. I do not even know all of the players names yet. I need time to get to know them and I will probably play around with it from now until the Celtic game.

“I will have a look at things and get to know people and once that's done I can better assess who should get the job. It's a really important position at any club as he has to be a voice that you expect to hear on the park. He also has to be a bit of a policeman in the dressing-room as he has to have some strength about him to boss his team-mates.

“He is the communication between me and the team at times which makes him a crucial person in the club.”

The Dons have three friendly matches before the Europa League third-round tie on July 30.

They face 1860 Munich in Bad Wimsbach in Austria on July 18 with matches at Peterhead on July 22 and at Dundee on July 25 to follow.

Following the European second leg on August 6, they travel to Hull three days later for former Don Dean Windass’s testimonial, which will be their final warm-up challenge before the SPL kick off on August 15.