from Hampden to Pittodrie

Aberdeen yesterday completed the signing of Queens Park striker Lawrence Shankland. Manager Derek McInnes told RedTV that he was a player he had been keeping an eye on for a while.

“I am delighted young Lawrence is now with us. He was a player who was brought to my attention at my last club. We monitored him and we continued that interest since we came in. He is 17 years old, scored a fair amount of goals last year in the Third Division and this signing is all about potential and I do feel we have a chance to work with a player who is desperate to be full time and prove himself. He is one certainly we feel with the right coaching and nurturing he could make an impact for us in the first team. There is no pressure on him to be that right away. We would not expect that but we will do all we can to help him improve as he goes along.

“He is a good size and has a good goal return. He has a lot to learn but we do feel he is a very good signing.

Lawrence certainly does not look like a 17 year old and when he sat down and spoke to RedWeb after his first training session with Neil Cooper he showed a high level of maturity for a young man who looks to have a very bright future ahead of him.

“The first morning was quite tough! We were straight into it with some long runs and then back out in the afternoon. So it was a nice welcome to professional football for me but I enjoyed it. I have met a few of the U20 boys before during some of the Scotland camps. I met most of them this morning and they all made me feel very welcome.I know I am coming into a very good squad and have been told how well the side played last season.

“I was with Queens Park for five years. I joined them when I was 13 and then made my debut when I was 16 and then played last season when I was 17. I made my debut against Elgin at Hampden. It was certainly a great place to make your debut! It was a great experience playing at Hampden. With Rangers playing in the league last season I got to experience playing in front of a big crowd at the national stadium and also playing on TV. That was all good for my development.

“Queen Park has an excellent youth system and I would like to thank everyone who worked with me over the years. One of my coaches was of course our current manager Gardner Speirs who I believe used to be assistant manager here.

“They have brought through quite a number of boys, they have brought another four into the first team squad this season and three of us have now moved on. Although they are an amateur club they are very professional in the way they are set up. They are a very good club and I really enjoyed my time there.

“It was at the end of the season when Gardner Speirs called in and said Aberdeen were interested in me. At that stage he did not know if there was anything concrete in it but then I found out Derek was interest in me. As soon as I spoke to him I knew I wanted to come here and move onto the next stage of my career.

“To do that I felt like I needed first team football to improve and development my game and to get to a higher level.

“Like the rest of the U20s my aim to join them one day and play for the first team but I know how hard I have to work to get there. It would be great the next time I go back to Hampden was in a Cup Final with Aberdeen one day!

“The Third Division was certainly not a little boys league! You get a lot of kicks and bruises but I learned a lot from the experience. It made me a lot wiser and a better player. It was good for me and as I say I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

“There are a lot of good young players in the division that I played against. I think there will be more players like myself who move up through the leagues

“It was a bit strange being in the dressing room today. As the first team are not back till Wednesday we were in the first team dressing room. A few of the boys were in though such as Andrew Considine, Chris Clark, Russell Anderson and Jamie Langfield, players you are used to watching on TV so it was a bit surreal at first. It was good to be around players like that.

“I have not really set myself any targets this season. I just want to keep progressing and score goals for the U20s. I scored 15 goals last season and finished up our top goal scorer so I am confident I can score goals for Aberdeen.”