Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin will be down to the bare bones when he begins the task of reshaping the Dons defence this summer.
With Ross McCrorie restored to midfield and Calvin Ramsay seemingly heading for Liverpool at some point soon Goodwin faces the prospect of having just three recognised defenders left in his first team squad in Jack Mackenzie, Declan Gallagher and David Bates.
Michael Devlin has departed while stalwart Andy Considine will join him soon as his long Dons career has just days remaining with his contract set to expire next month.
Add in Adam Montgomery’s return to Celtic now his loan has ended and really, there’s only the three aforementioned players left to choose from.
The well-documented lack of clean sheets this season show how fragile the Dons defensive line has been but in comparison to the other sides in the division it isn’t actually that bad.
The Dons shipped 46 goals in the league this season which is a tally bettered only by the top four of Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Dundee United, and eighth placed Hibernian.
Porous defence has plagued the Dons
On paper, it doesn’t sound that bad but it’s the lack of clean sheets which have really cost the team dear.
Considine’s final game for the club on Sunday was only the seventh clean sheet kept in all competitions for the club this season.
Given he has played in two of them and missed all of September through to a one-minute appearance off the bench at Hibs it is hardly a ringing endorsement of how his team-mates coped in his absence.
A scrappy point here and there would have made all the difference in the final league table to the extent we could have been looking forward to a ninth European campaign in a row instead of the fun and games which lie ahead in the Premier Sports Cup group stage in July.
As it is, the first game on July 9 is fast approaching and the Dons will find out next week who they will face when the draw for the group stages of the League Cup is made.
Former Saint Charles Dunne on Goodwin’s radar
With a departure for a pre-season training camp also being planned for the end of June the season may have just ended for Aberdeen but for the manager and the football operation at Pittodrie time is of the essence.
The 29-year-old has a year remaining on his deal with Saints who have placed a £250,000 price tag on their player.
Aberdeen’s opening bid of £100,000 was rejected by the Buddies so the Dons will have to come back with an improved offer if they are to lure the left-back who can also play in central defence to Pittodrie.
Clearly, should Ramsay move on, another right-back option will be needed to avoid McCrorie having to drop back to defence again.
The only other right-back option in 2022 has been midfielder Funso Ojo who has also been released.
Could emerging young talent be given their chance?
Elsewhere in the backline there is always the possibility the Dons could look to promote from their youth team.
Central defender Mason Hancock, the former Fulham academy prospect, was named on the bench earlier in the campaign and captained the Dons B team in the Challenge Cup.
The 19-year-old is one the club has high hopes for.
He signed a one-year extension in January and impressed during his loan with Stirling Albion, managed by former Dons captain Darren Young, in the second half of the season.
Evan Towler is another whose potential has not gone unnoticed by the new manager.
The left-back spent the second half of the season on loan at Elgin City.
There is the possibility the 17-year-old, who is captain of the under-18s, could be sent out on loan again at a higher level but as it stands the teenager is poised to join the first team squad for pre-season training.
But clearly the defence is looking particularly threadbare as it stands. Landing Dunne would be the first brick of this particular rebuilding job.
