Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin hopes to further bolster his squad ahead of Saturday’s home match against St Mirren.
The Dons fell to defeat in their opening match of the Premiership campaign when they went down 2-0 to Celtic at Parkhead.
Of the 13 players who took to the field during the course of the 90 minutes, eight were making their league debuts for the Reds.
Liam Scales, who is Goodwin’s ninth summer signing on loan from the Hoops, was ineligible to face his parent club.
Despite having already undertaken a vast rebuilding job at Pittodrie, Goodwin felt the loss to Celtic reinforced the need to add further quality to his squad.
Goodwin said: “We are still working really hard in the transfer window. We are not done yet by any stretch of the imagination.
“We still have to add a bit of quality. I think we miss Connor Barron when he’s not playing in the middle of the pitch. Jack MacKenzie is out injured as well.
“We still need a bit more quality in the team to be able to handle the ball better, and give us more opportunities against difficult opposition.
“Hopefully this week we can get a bit further down the line with one or two, and hopefully we can have a couple of new faces for the St Mirren game.”
Bates remains part of Pittodrie plans
One player tipped to leave Pittodrie is defender David Bates, who was not in the squad for the trip to Glasgow.
Bates was reportedly in line for a six-figure move to Polish side Legia Warsaw, however, the deal is believed to have fallen through.
Goodwin remained tight-lipped on Bates’ future, but insists he remains part of the picture while still contracted to the club.
He added: “There is nothing to add with that one.
“David is still very much part of the plans. He just wasn’t in the squad against Celtic.
“I know there has been a lot of speculation about him, but I’m not going to get into that in too much depth.
“Until I’ve got something to tell, David is still very much an Aberdeen player with two years left on his contract.
“He understands the situation with Liam Scales and Anthony Stewart, two guys that have been brilliant throughout the League Cup games that they played in. They have kept clean sheets.
“Ross McCrorie is more than capable of stepping in there in the absence of Liam Scales.”
Reds forwards need time to settle
The Dons went behind after just three minutes against the Hoops, who struck through Stephen Welsh.
Although the Reds settled down after the early setback, Jota clinched the victory for Celtic with a stunning late second goal.
Goodwin feels his new-look squad is still knitting together, most notably forwards Bojan Miovski and Luis Lopes – who have only joined up with the Reds’ squad in recent weeks.
The Dons boss added: “It was a difficult game. I don’t want people to judge my players on that performance because we know we are better than that.
“We still need to get guys up to speed fitness-wise. It’s not an excuse, I know every other team out there will be in similar situations to ourselves.
“Miovski has only had a little over two weeks of training with the squad, whereas the rest of the guys have had five weeks of pre-season.
“Duk (Luis Lopes) is the same – he has only got 25 or 30 minutes in him.
“We have to try and get these guys as fit as possible, as quick as possible, without running the risk of injuries.”
Conversation