Glass believes big characters will boost Aberdeen this season

Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass thinks his summer recruitment can “change the dynamic” in the squad as he added experienced characters to the squad.

Glass is preparing for his first full season in charge at Pittodrie, having come in towards the end of last season, and has begun reshaping the squad to fit what he wants to put on the park. Former Celtic captain Scott Brown was the first to come on board as a player-coach, with Scotland international defender Declan Gallacher also making a move north.

Experienced MLS forward Christian Ramirez comes in from Houston Dynamo, while Jack Gurr has arrived from Atlanta and Teddy Jenks moved on a season-long loan from Brighton.

Glass believes the level of player he’s signed can lift the squad and make a big difference.

“It’s vital as a staff that you add the right people, the right players and the right quality into the club,” he said. “I believe we’ve done that.

“I think it gives people a lift. When you make signings that bring in big numbers of players but they don’t really change the dynamic of your group, you don’t change anything.

“There was a big opportunity for us this year to change the dynamic of the group, and I think we’ve done that.

“From as early as Scott and Declan coming in, Teddy’s loan, we brought in Christian and Jet and Jack Gunn as well, so the signings are really going to add to the group here.”

The Dons are working to be ready for the new season and playing friendlies ahead of their European qualifier against Swedish side BK Häcken. Glass says the new recruits will be ready to play their part but will have earned a starting place.

“They’ll compete,” he said. “They’re all desperate to play all the time so they have to earn it through training and performances.

“It all starts with the pre-season games and then the European game in a couple of weeks.”

The manager shot down talk of a move to take Callum Hendry back again after his loan from St Johnstone last season, and was equally insistent that there was no change to Lewis Ferguson’s situation, despite interest in the young Aberdeen midfielder.

And while he was content with his signing so far, he wouldn’t rule out more additions if the right players became available.

“There’s nothing imminent in terms of people coming in or going out,” he said. “What I would say is that any manager in the league would probably tell you they want to add players.

“I’m no different. We want to add quality and we’ll be ready if something happens that we want to do.”