Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee is looking to have new recruits in place for this weekend's SPL kick-off against Celtic at Pittodrie.
The Dons manager fielded five trialists in yesterday's 1-0 victory against Hull City in Dean Windass's testimonial match at the KC Stadium in which Lee Miller scored with a header in in 39 minutes from Sone Aluko’s cross.
Defender Jerel Ifil, 27, who is available on a free transfer from Swindon, was a stand-out performer in defence and will be McGhee's priority, although centre back Zander Diamond is expected to return to training today.
Former Hibs loan midfielder Craig Rocastle and former Tottenham and Wolves forward Rohan Ricketts also received pass marks from the manager and are set to be offered deals at Pittodrie.
Le Harve defender Idrissa Alassane and former Fulhan youth product Mazim Ahmed are also being considered.
McGhee said: “It was nice to win a game for starters and it was another game under our belts in terms of fitness.
“We had the opportunity to see a few players and I think it was blindingly obvious the difference it made dropping an experienced centre half in there.
"It made us a different team.
“The trialists did themselves no harm and they will come back with us to Aberdeen.
“We will now look at them over the next week and take stock before making decisions.
“I do not know if we will take all of them on board but we will certainly hope to sign a couple of them.
“If we decide want them we will act as quickly as possible.
“I felt they really helped the squad. I looked at the bench and saw that I had options whereas, against Sigma, Derek Young was the only player there who had any first-team experience."
McGhee also handed a debut to goalkeeper Stuart Nelson, who impressed in place of Jamie Langfield.
Langfield has joined up with the Scotland squad ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Norway.
Nelson said he was pleased to keep a clean sheet against the Premier League side and to begin to bury the ghosts of last week's dreadful Europa League exit against Czech Republic outfit Sigma Olomouc.
Nelson said: “It was good to play and get a clean sheet. I had a couple of saves and it was great to get a game under my belt.
“People may look at it and say it was just a friendly match.
but it was a very important game for us after what happened last week.
“Everyone was extremely disappointment with the European result and we have less than a week to go until the start of the season.
“It was vital to bounce back with a good performance and it shows a bit of character. When you get a pasting like we did last week, it does have an effect.
“Everyone knows what we have to do. We need to stick together, the players and the coaching staff, and we have done that by taking a step in the right direction against Hull.
“Regardless of it being a testimonial, they are a Premier League team and it is a positive result for us. It helps recover a bit of confidence before the Celtic match.”
