Jim Goodwin in Aberdeen transfer admission as he insists new blood has cleared last season's scars

Jim Goodwin insists his new-look Dons have no fear about a repeat of last season’s disasters.

The Aberdeen manager replaced Stephen Glass in February after the club were knocked out of the Scottish Cup at Motherwell. By then they had already lost to Sunday's opponents Raith Rovers in the League Cup and were struggling in the Premiership.

Goodwin’s arrival couldn’t stop the slump as just two wins in 12 games meant a 10th-place finish. That was Aberdeen’s lowest in the league since Steve Paterson was in charge back in 2004. It also left them out of European football for the first time in nine years in the 40th anniversary season of Cup Winners’ Cup success over Real Madrid. Goodwin has spent the last five months rebuilding the club both off and on the park. Now he’s in a much better position to be judged and is confident the influx of seven new players will help them rise to the challenge.

He said: “I feel I’m starting to put my own stamp on it now and the players we are bringing in haven’t been scarred by what went on last season. It’s irrelevant what happened last season to the group who are here now because the new guys don’t feel that.

“They are excited about being a part of such a big club with such a great history and are just as optimistic as our supporters are at the moment. Back in February we came into a difficult situation – there’s no getting away from that.

“We’ve made numerous changes to the playing staff but also to the backroom team. Those changes I believe were for the better and in the best interests of the club. Without being disrespectful to the boys who have left, I think we are in a far better place now than when I first came in back in February.”

Goodwin couldn’t have asked for a tougher test than