Aberdeen

Aberdeen made it two Scottish Premiership wins out of two against St Mirren as Pittodrie fans bid an apparent farewell to Bojan Miovski.

The striker, who has scored 44 Dons goals over the past two years, made a likely swansong off the bench amid talks between Girona and Aberdeen over his future and appeared emotional while he waved to supporters after full-time.

Pape Habib Gueye nodded the hosts in front but Toyosi Olusanya capitalised on sloppy defending to force a leveller on half-time.

Jamie McGrath finished well after Ester Sokler's cross had been helped on by Shayden Morris and Vicente Besuijen headed in Graeme Shinnie's cross for Aberdeen's third.

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BBC Scotland's Andy Campbell

Aberdeen initially struggled to find the fluidity of the performance that produced an opening weekend win at St Johnstone.

When they first found the net, it was largely down to St Mirren. Goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe conceded possession near his box and a corner soon followed. Jamie McGrath's delivery had curl but Balcombe was suspect as he came off his line only to see Pape Habib Gueye find the net.

Their second-half goals, though, were much more in-keeping with their early season form as their attacking players combined to find the opening for McGrath to score and then Graeme Shinnie picked out Vicente Besuijen from deep.

With Queen's Park visiting Pittodrie next week, continuing their 100% season's record would mean a League Cup quarter-final place for Jimmy Thelin's side.

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Jamie McGrath provided the assist for Aberdeen's opener and scored their crucial second.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "We still have parts to improve but the fighting spirit is amazing.

"They give everything they have and they do it together, so I'm delighted with that. It's a strong group.

"I can't say anything about [Girona-linked Bojan Miovski]. There's still strong interest in him but still he's here. That's all I can say."

Aberdeen: Mitov, Devlin, Molloy, Rubezic, MacKenzie, McGrath, Heltne Nilsen, Shinnie, Morris, Gueye, Sokler.

Substitutes: Doohan, Jensen, Miovski, McGarry, Besuijen, Milne, Duncan, Boyd, Ambrose.

St Mirren: Balcombe, Fraser, Gogic, Iacovitti, Rooney, Adeniran, Boyd-Munce, Idowu, Tanser, Olusanya, Scott.

Substitutes: Urminsky, Bwomono, Kenny, R Taylor, Brown, F Taylor, Smyth, Ayunga, Mandron.

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New signing Ante Palaversa and defender Angus MacDonald are not quite ready to feature for Aberdeen, who remain without midfielders Leighton Clarkson (shoulder) and Dante Polvara (hamstring) and the AWOL Duk.

Lewis Jamieson returned to training at St Mirren on Friday following his recovery from a thigh injury. Captain Mark O’Hara also has a thigh injury and will be assessed while Conor McMenamin (knee) and Greg Kiltie (ankle) are both long-term absentees.

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Jimmy Thelin is refusing to get carried away despite five wins from his opening five games in charge of the Dons.

The Swedish manager oversaw a perfect League Cup group stage campaign, before beginning the Premiership season with a 2-1 win away to St Johnstone last weekend.

They host St Mirren - who drew 1-1 against Brann in Conference League qualifying on Thursday - in the league on Sunday, and Thelin is expecting a tough test.

"They are a consistent team, I think they are structured really well with how they defend," he said.

"Brann were also very good but they managed to stay in the game and they got an opportunity for an equaliser and they took it.

"In their game against Hibs, in the first half they struggled a little bit but in the second half they scored three goals. They are a team fighting to the end.

"It is going to be a challenge for sure. We need to stay humble and keep working. We have only played one game in the league.

"We have a lot of things to improve. We are going to keep trying and trying and put on a good performance."

Aberdeen have agreed a £860,000 deal and fought off Blackburn Rovers to land Finnish winger Topi Keskinen. (lMTV Urheilu via Daily Record, external)

Spanish club Girona have bid more than £4m for Bojan Miovski but will need to up the ante again if they want to sign the Aberdeen striker. (Daily Record), external

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

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Jimmy Thelin says Croatian midfielder Ante Palaversa has the "hunger" to succeed at Aberdeen after joining from Troyes for an undisclosed fee.

"He has a spirit," said the manager, who is undefeated so far with the Dons.

"He has a way to get back on a good track in his career. He has had some setbacks in the last years.

"The hunger is there and that is really important for me when you sign a player and you can see it in his eyes how much he wants to play for Aberdeen and how hard he wants to work to achieve something.

"That is the first part and in profile, he is more like a box-to-box midfielder and linking the play. It is a different profile to Graeme [Shinnie] and Sivert [Heltne Nilsen].

"It is good to have the other tools to use inside our game."

The 24-year-old, who was a £7m signing for Manchester City five years ago, is unlikely to make his Dons debut on Sunday when Thelin's side face St Mirren in their first home game of the Premiership season.

"If you ask him he will be [ready] but I think it is a bit too early," added Thelin.

"We need to be careful about the team training and these kind of things. I think he will be ready quite soon but maybe not for the weekend."

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin addresses the future of star striker Bojan Miovski, who is in talks with Spanish side Girona as he nears a Pittodrie exit.

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has been talking to the media before his side's Premiership match against St Mirren on Sunday.

Here are the key points from his press conference:

• Bojan Miovski is still an Aberdeen player and trained with the club today after the North Macedonia international held talks with Spanish side Girona.

• Thelin described the speculation around the striker as "intense", but wouldn’t say whether Miovski was on his way out of the club.

• Rumours have linked the Dons with a move for Finnish winger Topi Keskinen, but Thelin said he would never comment on other team’s players.

• The manager described his latest signing Ante Palaversa as a "box-to-box" player who will help link the play.

• Thelin described coach Peter Leven, who led the club on an interim basis last season, as a good coach and an "important part of the staff" after he was linked with the managerial vacancy at Raith Rovers.

Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski is keen to make a move to Girona, who are set to make an improved bid for the 25-year-old North Macedonia international. (Daily Record), external

Genoa have pulled out of the race to sign Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski with talks with Spanish club Girona having reached an advanced stage. (Sky Sports), external

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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• Aberdeen have lost both of their last two league meetings with St Mirren, last losing three in a row to the Buddies in July 2011.

• St Mirren have won two of their last three league trips to Aberdeen (L1), having failed to win any of their previous 15 beforehand (D8 L7).

• Aberdeen lost their first home league game of last season (3-1 to Celtic) but haven’t done so in successive campaigns since 2008-09/2009-10.

• St Mirren won 3-0 against Hibernian on matchday one this season and have won six of their last seven Scottish Premiership matches in August (D1).

• James Scott assisted two goals as a substitute in St Mirren’s win over Hibs – in his previous 63 Scottish Premiership appearances, he had only assisted three goals.

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Scotland centre-half Scott McKenna has joined La Liga side Las Palmas on a three-year deal.

McKenna, 27, left Nottingham Forest this summer following the expiry of his contract and now makes the move to Gran Canaria.

The former Aberdeen defender becomes the second Scotland international to sign for Las Palmas this summer after striker Oli McBurnie.

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Ante Palaversa is eager to kickstart his career at Aberdeen and show the talent that persuaded Manchester City to pay around £7m for his services five years ago.

The Dons have paid Troyes an undisclosed fee to land the Croatian midfielder, 24, on a one-year deal with the option of a further two years.

Palaversa shot to prominence with boyhood club Hajduk Split in his homeland before securing a move to City at age 18 in January 2019.

Loan spells in Croatia, Spain and Belgium followed before he joined then Ligue 1 side Troyes, but he departs France having made just nine appearances in an injury-hit two-year spell.

Should Jimmy Thelin be able to restore Palaversa to form and fitness, Aberdeen could have landed a gem in the former Croatia Under-21 international.

The midfielder says he needs to grasp this opportunity at Pittodrie to "prove myself and get my career back on track".

He added: "I know it is a big club and having spoken to the manager I know we all want to deliver success.

"I’m a creative midfielder, I like to play football and I believe I will get my chance here."

Genoa have 25-year-old Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski at the top of their wanted list to replace Mateo Retegui with the Italy international due to have a medical with Atalanta on Thursday. (Marco Conterio on X), external

Chelsea have been contacted by Rangers over a potential move for 19-year-old academy midfielder Leo Castledine, but the London club want a straight loan while the Ibrox outfit want an option to buy, with Aberdeen also having registered an interest in the Englishman. (Football Scotland), external

Aberdeen first-team coach Peter Leven is under consideration by Raith Rovers, who are looking to appoint a head coach to work under director of football John Potter rather than a manager at Stark’s Park after sacking Ian Murray. (Daily Record), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Last week I wrote here about the dearth of entertainment that Aberdeen and St Johnstone continually served up in recent seasons when they met, but Monday’s frenetic clash in Perth was a refreshing change from the norm.

The Dons deserved their victory after their vigorous first-half performance. Saints struggled to contain them and the visitors were unlucky to only be one goal up at half-time, albeit there was a grandstand finish.

The club has been relatively quiet in the transfer market this summer and there is a suspicion the board are waiting to see if Jimmy Thelin can get a tune out of what is in the building before committing to more numbers.

One of the club’s priorities just now simply has to be trying to tie the influential Jamie McGrath down on an extended deal. The Irishman is into the last year of his contract and seems to be growing by the game, having finished last season strongly. He was superb in Perth, with a goal and an assist to his name.

New signing Sivert Nilsen also impressed and is exactly the type of player Aberdeen had been missing last season.

But, with Leighton Clarkson joining Dante Polvara on the long-term injured list, the squad is pretty light in numbers. Given they want to challenge Hearts this season, the difference in depth is quite stark – considering the Edinburgh side are close to having three players per position while the Aberdeen bench looked somewhat threadbare at McDiarmid Park.

However, Thelin has become the first Pittodrie manager to win his opening five games. And although all but one of those was against lower-league opposition, he clearly has the players in a good mindset as they prepare to welcome in-form St Mirren to the Granite City on Sunday.

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Jamie McGrath has hailed Bojan Miovski’s impactful return to the frontline as a "breath of fresh air" for Aberdeen.

North Macedonia striker Miovski made his first start of the season in Monday night’s Premiership opener as Jimmy Thelin's side followed up four League Cup wins with a 2-1 victory at St Johnstone.

The 25-year-old hit the bar from distance and was a major threat in the first half especially despite having played just 45 minutes in the group stage amid speculation over his future.

"He could have looked like he wasn't match sharp but that wasn't the case," said midfielder McGrath, who scored the Dons’ second.

"He nearly stuck one in the top bin from 30 yards. He was a breath of fresh air to get back into the team and he gives us that point to link up.

"You know when he has the ball he rarely gives it away. As a midfielder, that's the dream. He is only going to get sharper going into the season and long may that continue."

Having emerged as the match-winner in Perth, McGrath is now looking to kick off their home league campaign with a win against former club St Mirren on Sunday.

The Dons won just seven of 19 home matches in the Premiership last season.

"Our home form wasn't good enough," the Republic of Ireland international said.

"So far we have won all our home games and had a good feeling. The home fans will be behind us and that will be important going into a really tough game against St Mirren, who are flying. It is good to see them doing well in Europe."

Southampton have been linked with interest in Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski but the Premier League newcomers are not pursuing a move for the 25-year-old. (Sky Sports)

Raith Rovers are eyeing a move for former Aberdeen caretaker manager and current Dons first-team coach Peter Leven. (Daily Record)

Midfielder Jamie McGrath says Aberdeen can forget about a top-half Premiership finish unless they improve their home form from last season. (Press & Journal)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.