Duk of Aberdeen FC last season can spark Neil Warnock revival as star told he has 'top level that’s unheard of'

Stefan Gartenmann is in no doubt Aberdeen will climb the table if Duk can get back to the levels he hit last season.

The striker claimed 18 goals but his prolific strike partner Bojan Miovski has left him in the shadows this time around. Duk has struggled to reproduce his first season heroics although at times he has shown flashes but it hasn’t been enough to light up his or Aberdeen’s stuttering season. The Cape Verde international has also had to cope with the disappointment of missing out on the African Cup of Nations and a failed deadline day bid from Spanish side Leganes.

Boss Neil Warnock claimed he has had to pick Duk up and that certainly looked to be the case as he came off the bench to net a double and to help Aberdeen come back from 3-0 down to claim a point against Motherwell. Gartenmann admitted: “We all hope to see the Duk from last season.

"We have seen it in moments. We see it every now and then. When I see some of the goals he scored last season he just has a top level that is unheard of. If we can get that Duk back with the Bojan we have this season then we will start to win games. Then it is up to us to start getting clean sheets as well. We haven’t had many of those either and that is a big task. If we can get clean sheets then we will win games.”

Bojan Miovski had scored all Aberdeen’s goals, apart from one, before Wednesday night. Now Warnock’s issue isn’t scoring but trying to keep them out at the opposite end. He went with a three man defence of Nicky Devlin, Gartenmann and Jack MacKenzie against Motherwell, after Richard Jensen called off ill. It didn’t work as his side were 3-0 down within half-an-hour and he had to make changes.

A shell-shocked Gartenmann claimed: “I have to be honest, I would