Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen FC’s Declan McManus hopes goals will earn him new deal

Declan McManus came through the youth ranks at Aberdeen.
Declan McManus came through the youth ranks at Aberdeen.

Aberdeen attacker Declan McManus hopes his goal-scoring exploits for Morton are enough to convince Dons manager Derek McInnes to give him a new contract.

The 20-year-old forward was named PFA Scotland League 1 player of the year at the awards dinner in Glasgow on Sunday.

The reward came just 24 hours after his 23rd goal of the season helped the Greenock club beat Peterhead 3-1 to secure the title and with it promotion to the Championship.

McManus will return to Pittodrie today and with his contract due to expire in the summer he is waiting to discover whether he has a future at the club.

He said: “I am going back up to Aberdeen and I will see the under-20s lads pick up their trophy. I will probably train with the Aberdeen players again and take it from there.

“So I will speak to the manager during the week. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and we agreed we would leave it and let me concentrate on trying to win the league.

“I was quite happy with that. I am not bothered about talking about contracts right now. For me, it was all about trying to get that trophy.

“However, I have been at Aberdeen since I was eight years old so the club is a big part of my life. I just have to wait and see because I don’t have the final decision.

“I will be told whether it is yes or no. I just have to hope that they want me.”

McManus believes his year at Cappielow has given him the confidence to carve out a top-flight career.

He said: “Going to Morton and playing every week is the best feeling a footballer can have.

“Waking up every Saturday and knowing that you have got a game is special.

“I don’t want to lose that feeling. I want to keep playing next season, whether that is with Aberdeen or someone else. It is going to be a hard task for me, but I am up for the challenge.

“The season has helped my confidence massively. It has been the best year of my life. It is what I have worked for since I first joined Aberdeen.

“To lift that trophy on Saturday just made everything worth it. It’s something some players never do, win a league and get a trophy.

“For me to do that in my first full season was terrific and this award caps it off. It has been the best weekend of my life.”

McManus has no doubts he can carry his goalscoring form in League 1 into the top tier next season.

He said: “I don’t think there is such a big gulf. If you have the knack of scoring, you can do it at any level.

“I would always back myself to go and do it with Aberdeen or whoever it may be. I have belief in myself that I can do it and I just have to hope I get the chance.”