Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes hopes fixtures on transfer deadline day can be avoided in future.
McInnes feels it is difficult to try to do business when also preparing for a game, with the Dons facing Owen Coyle’s Ross County at Dingwall tonight.
The one upside for Mc-Innes is that he has little in the way of transfer dealings to finalise. The only target is a new goalkeeper to compensate for Joe Lewis’ absence, with the first-choice stopper ruled out for up to three months after undergoing surgery on damaged knee cartilage today.
Playing on transfer deadline day is not how McInnes would have preferred to do business but, aside from adding a goalkeeper, he does not expect any other deals.
He said: “I don’t think it’s ideal. I think that fixtures shouldn’t be scheduled for deadline day. It just complicates things.
“My focus and the players’ focus is just on the game and thankfully there’s others at the club who can deal with that.
“I know Coyley and I think he was keen to get through the transfer window and make a few changes. You expect a team at the bottom of the table, especially if it’s Ross County and the backing they get from the chairman, to get a few signings in.
“I won’t be surprised if the team lines come in and there’s a couple of new faces on it.”
Ryan Christie is back in the Dons squad for tonight’s fixture but Stevie May is out.
Aberdeen will be on a high following the go-ahead for the club’s new training ground and stadium complex, which McInnes believes will show them in a more positive light.
Proposals for the £50million project were approved by Aberdeen City councillors on Tuesday and McInnes said the energy from the good news could be felt throughout the club.
A new stadium at Kingsford is some way off. Chairman Stewart Milne expects it to be there by 2021 but the training ground should be up and running sooner.
Clearance could be given by the Scottish Government in March for the project, with hopes it could be in use by next year. McInnes said: “It’ll be massive, not just at first-team level, but right throughout the academy.
“It is with a tinge of embarrassment that when we go and play other teams at all age groups that they have to play on the likes of Balgownie on poor surfaces, poor changing facilities and just a poor environment really.
“From the youth levels right through to the first team we’re so looking forward to being more professional and working in an environment that will highlight the club in a more positive fashion.”
