Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin insists the best has yet to come from “quiet, shy” striker Duk who he says comes alive with the ball at his feet.
Summer signing Luis Lopes, has scored in in three of the last four matches.
The 22-year-old has lit up Scottish football with stunning goals including a scissors kick against Ross County and flicked header at Hibs.
Goodwin warns Premiership defenders the former Benfica striker will develop into a more potent attacking force.
Duk was secured for a six-figure fee until summer 2025 from the Portuguese giants during Goodwin’s extensive summer rebuild.
Goodwin says Duk is shy away from football but lights up in training and games.
He said: “Duk has done great, but still has a lot of work to do and development.
“He is a very quiet, shy type.
“But once you get the ball out in training he comes alive.
“You also see that with some of his performances in the games in match day as well.
“He is enjoying life at Aberdeen and has really settled into the group very, very well.”
Duk’s scoring impact off the bench
Duk scored 11 goals in 42 games for Benfica B in Liga Portugal B.
He had previously netted 18 times in 41 appearances for the Portuguese club’s under-23 side
The striker represented Portugal at under-18 and under-19 level, but made his Cape Verde senior debut against Ecuador this summer.
Duk earned a second cap during the recent international break when starting a 2-1 friendly away win over Bahrain.
He has made 10 appearances off the bench for the Reds and quickly gained a reputation as a super-sub.
Having netted in back to back games when introduced as a substitute, Duk was pitched in for his first start against Hibs.
He obliterated that super-sub tag by scoring within four minutes of his first start, a superb flicked 15-yard header at Easter Road.
However, Duk was substituted just before half-time as Goodwin had to reshuffle his pack following the dismissal of centre-back Liam Scales.
Aberdeen would lose 3-1.
Duk returned to the substitute’s bench for the 4-1 defeat of Kilmarnock at the weekend.
Goodwin said: “Probably Duk’s best performances have come off the bench where he comes on in the last half an hour.
“He has made real significant impacts.
“Duk had a very good start at Easter Road a couple of weekends ago.
“He is a good player and we knew what we were getting when we signed him.”
Competition for places in attack
Summer signing Bojan Miovski is the first choice striker and has netted eight goals in 10 games.
Miovski, 23, netted a double in the rout of Kilmarnock at the weekend.
Duk replaced North Macedonian international Miovski after 67 minutes against Kilmarnock.
Miovski had started for his country in UEFA Nations League games against Georgia and Bulgaria earlier that week.
Although on a hat-trick, Miovski said he expected to be substituted due to the travelling involved for the international fixtures.
Goodwin insists it is vital the Dons do not rely solely on one player and has urged Duk to keep the pressure on Miovski.
He said: “It is always important that your strikers are scoring goals.
“I built the squad in a way which gives me great attacking options.
“I was able to replace Bojan with Duk, who is real quality.
“Against Kilmarnock, Vicente Besuijen came off and was replaced by Christian Ramirez, who has proven he can score goals in this league.
“The changes aren’t weakening the team at the top end of the pitch, which is the most important thing.
“Both Duk and Bojan have scored plenty of goals up to now between the two of them, which is pleasing.
“It is always important that you don’t need to rely on any one individual.
“There is good competition up there at the top end of the pitch at the moment and that’s the way you want it.”
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