Boss Barry Robson insists he never had any doubt summer signing Nicky Devlin would fit in perfectly at Aberdeen.
Robson’s first move when appointed permanent Dons manager in May was to sign the defender.
Former Livingston captain Devlin was Robson’s first addition of a summer squad overhaul where 13 new players were secured.
Devlin, 29, was secured on a two-year-deal having been available as a free agent following the expiration of his Livingston deal.
Robson said he always knew Devlin was “the right man” for Aberdeen.
And he is happy to be proven right with the wing-back’s impressive performances in both European and domestic action.
Robson said: “When myself and Steve (Agnew, assistant manager) came in we knew Nicky was available and it was the first thing we did.
“I knew right away he was the right man.
“Nicky knew this league, is a good athlete and can pass the ball.
“I knew he would fit in perfectly at this club.”
Devlin ticks all the boxes for Robson
A pivotal part of Robson’s rebuilt team, Devlin has started all 14 of Aberdeen’s games this season in all competitions.
The defender has underlined his versatility by impressing at centre-back, right-back and right-wing back.
He suffered a setback when a mistake against Celtic led to a goal in a 3-1 Premiership loss at Pittodrie in August.
Devlin’s attempted headed pass-back fell short and Kyogo Furuhashi took full advantage to drill home a shot to put Celtic 2-1 up.
That mistake, and goal, came just four minutes after Aberdeen had equalised against the defending league champions.
Devlin did not let that costly error affect him and produced an impressive performance for the remainder of that game.
He later netted a superb equaliser as Aberdeen fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with BK Hacken in Gothenburg.
Aberdeen lost to the Swedish champions in the second leg of the Europa League play-off 3-1 at Pittodrie.
Robson said: “We needed men, we needed experience and we needed people who can run.
“I think a lot of people forget that the game demands that especially in the modern day.
“Nicky fitted all that and we also knew he could play different positions.
“When you need to be tactically good and perform at different levels you need to have all those attributes.
“Nicky has got those attributes.
“That’s why we took him here and why we got him here pretty quickly.”
Robson ready to rotate his squad
Devlin was again impressive in the 0-0 draw with Premiership bottom club St Johnstone at the weekend.
Missed opportunities in front of goal proved costly for the Dons.
The stalemate with St Johnstone was the second successive draw having been held 1-1 by HJK Helsinki at Pittodrie on Thursday.
Facing St Johnstone was the Dons’ sixth game in 17 days as they balance Europa Conference League action with domestic commitments.
Robson insists he will utilise his full squad depth to cope with the demands.
He said: “At the moment we are fighting on all fronts and we enjoy that.
“We have a lot of games, we need to rotate the squad and we need to perform well.
“It is definitely where the club wants to be.”
‘You can’t start looking too far ahead’
Victory against St Johnstone would have elevated Robson’s side up the table to sit level on points with fourth-placed Hearts.
The Reds are currently eighth in the table as the Premiership enters a two week break due to international fixtures
Robson refuses to get downbeat by the Dons’ position in the bottom six – and is fully focused on winning the next fixture.
Aberdeen are next in action when hosting Dundee at Pittodrie on Saturday, October 21 (6pm).
He said: “You can’t start looking too far ahead of yourself as that’s when problems can arise.
“What we do is look at the next game and make sure we perform in that.
“Everything is concentrated on the next game.
“Don’t get carried away and keep full focus on the next game, I say that to the players and staff.
“Concentrate only on what is just in front of us.”
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