Stephen Robinson on why he handed Lewis Smith his Aberdeen debut a day after signing for the Dons

Boss Stephen Robinson reckons new signing Lewis Smith showed flashes of the attacking creativity he can bring to Aberdeen on his quickfire debut.

Winger Smith was pitched in for a starting debut in the 2-0 win against Brora Rangers little more than 24 hours after signing for the Dons.

The 26-year-old was secured for a fee of around £300,000 from Livingston on the eve of the Premier Sports Cup Group A clash against the Highland League champions.

Smith, who penned a three-year deal with the Dons, had only one training session at Cormack Park on Monday.

The Dons then travelled north after that training session and stayed overnight in Inverness before the season opener.

Robinson admits even Smith was surprised at being named in the starting line-up the day after penning a deal with the Dons.

But the Pittodrie gaffer says he wants to integrate the winger immediately into his team as the Reds are currently short in that position.

Smith was signed as a replacement for winger Topi Keskinen who was sold to Danish top-flight club Odense last week in a deal worth more than £1million.

Important Smith bed into team early

Winger Nicolas Milanovic is currently in Australia and closing in on a return to Western Sydney Wanderers.

The A-League club sold Australian international Milanovic to the Dons last summer.

Robinson reckons Smith showed glimpses of his quality, but after such a short time at Aberdeen there is much more to come.

He said: “I’m not sure Lewis was expecting to start against Brora.

“However, we’ve lost two in that area and have a couple of injuries there as well at the moment.

“So it was important Lewis started to bed into the team early.

“Lewis showed little flashes of what he can do, but there’s certainly a lot more to come from him.”

Robinson bolstered his attacking options during the summer transfer window with the addition of wingers Smith, Tony Yogane and strikers Ayoub Mouloua and Toyosi Olusanya.

Robinson praises ‘clinical’ Nisbet

Olusanya spent the second half of last season on loan at Aberdeen from Houston Dynamo.

Aberdeen secured him on a permanent deal in the summer transfer window following the expiration of contract with the American MLS club.

Moroccan international Ayoub Mouloua, signed from FUS Rabat, made his competitive debut when coming off the bench against Brora in the 80th minute.

However it was Kevin Nisbet, now entering his third season at Pittodrie, who netted the two goals.

Scotland international Nisbet was Aberdeen’s top scorer last season with 11 goals.

Robinson said: “I said to Kevin he could have had a lot more (against Brora), but he keeps getting in those areas to score.

“Kevin will score goals as he is clinical.

“He took the penalty and was nice and composed in scoring.

“Kevin probably feels he could have scored more against Brora but ultimately it was enough to win the game.”

Will signings increase Dons press?

With the signing business in the transfer window Robinson has injected pace and aggression into the squad.

Will that deliver a pressing game?

Robinson said: “It was something I wanted to change.

“We had to sit deep (last season) and couldn’t be aggressive with our press.

“These games (Premier Sports Cup group stage) are probably not the ones for that as we’ll have so much of the ball.

“Lewis (Mayo, centre-back) gives us pace and Dan (Happe, centre-back) for the size of him is really quick.

“We can be more aggressive in terms of what we do at the top end of the pitch.

“Our press wasn’t tested and it was more about moving the ball on a sticky pitch.

“And trying to get people to take two touches, deliver balls and not complicate it.

“But that’s easier said than done.”

[Source: Press and Journal]