Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has challenged new signing Donervorn Daniels to follow Shay Logan’s lead by becoming an instant Dons hero.
The 21-year-old Montserratian defender joined Aberdeen on loan from English Premier League West Brom until the end of the season on Tuesday and is likely to play in Saturday’s League Cup semi-final against Dundee United at Hampden.
With Ashton Taylor and Russell Anderson both absent because of injury, Daniels is expected to partner Mark Reynolds in the heart of the Aberdeen defence against United.
It is a similar scenario to the one Logan faced when he joined the Dons on loan from Brentford the day before last season’s 4-0 League Cup semi-final win against St Johnstone.
Logan started the semi-final at Tynecastle and has gone on to become a favourite of the Aberdeen support.
And McInnes is confident Daniels can do the same.
He said: “Donervorn last played on Boxing Day for Blackpool. Of course I’d have liked him to have had some more games, but he has been training and is ready.
“He had a good day on Tuesday and was up in Aberdeen from Sunday.
“He’s a player we have known about for a while – we didn’t just pluck him out of nowhere – and when Ash was injured against Dundee we had to act quickly.
“With Russell Anderson still out it was too long to muddle on without a recognised central defender. The good thing is he can play a number of positions so even when Russell and Ashton do come back he could also play full back or in midfield.
“Shay Logan is a good example. He had even less preparation as he arrived and had one day’s training and went straight into the semi-final last year.
“Shay has a great personality and handled it brilliantly. He has done well ever since and it shows it can be done.
“The game takes care of itself. Even when Donervorn was at the hotel on Sunday we were giving him copies of our reports on Dundee United for the game.
“We showed him copies of recent games with United and some clips as well.
“So even though he wasn’t training with us he was still getting a handle on what to expect.”