U20 player interview | Kesiolu Omolokun

The young Dons are in action tomorrow night in the Second Round of the Irn-Bru Cup. The U20s will face Scottish League Two side Forfar Athletic after an impressive 5-2 victory over Formartine United in Round One. Despite only
signing 24 hours before that fixture, Kesiolu Omolokun really impressed on debut.

The English centre-back, who was on the books of Bradford City from the age of eight, will be part of the Development Squad this season after putting pen to paper on a one-year deal.

Kesi previewed the Forfar game on www.afc.co.uk:

“Aberdeen is different to back home, but I am now starting to get to know my way about town and starting to settle into life up here. I had never even been to Scotland until I arrived in Aberdeen!

“It feels quite far from home as it is a six-hour drive. My family used to come to all my games when I was back home, but obviously they can’t do that now. Hopefully they will be able to get up to Scotland and come and see me from time to time. It is never easy being so far away from your family, but it is a sacrifice many young players have to make.

“I grew up in Bradford. I have been there all my life. I am a Bradford City fan, I keep an eye on how they are doing as there are a couple of my mates who have made it through to the first team squad and I really want to see them doing well.

“I played with Bradford from the age of eight or nine all the way up till I was 18, so the club had been a big part of my life. I was back down for a weekend recently and bumped into Rory McArdle who was at Aberdeen. I have known Rory for a few years now and he is a really good guy. I would sometimes train with him.

“Before coming up here, I spoke with him and he said it was a great club, a great city with lovely people. Last week I was telling him how much everyone at the club thought of him. He was obviously very popular.

“The move came about when I got a call from my agent. The next thing I knew, I was on a flight in the morning and then after playing in a trail match against Dundee, I signed a contract.

“I felt this was a good move for me at this stage of my career. I felt Aberdeen would be a good challenge. It is a really big club.

“As a young player in England, it is difficult to get a chance to make it at the moment. But you just have to work really hard and if a chance comes along you need to take it. I know I have to work really hard this year at Aberdeen. I know how big a year this is for me. I will do my best and see where that takes me.

“There is a good bunch of lads in the U20 dressing room, good banter. There are also a lot of very good players. I have been very impressed by the standard. At first I could not understand some of them, I had no idea what they were saying! I just nodded and smiled. But now it is getting better. I seem to be picking up the accents a lot easier.

“I have enjoyed working with Paul Sheerin. He is a very good coach. He is very good at passing on advice to help us improve.

“I think putting the U20 sides into this competition is a good idea. It gives us the opportunity to play against seasoned professionals and that can only help our development.

“It was a challenge going to straight into the side for the Formartine game in the first round of the Irn-Bru Cup. It was only a day after I signed, so I did not really know many of the boys. I really enjoyed the game though.

“I felt that all the boys played really well. Before the game I was told how strong and tough the opponents were but we stood up to the physical challenge and did very well against a good side. We held our own.

“It was unfortunate to concede the two late goals which slightly spoilt the night but that should not take anything away from what a very good team performance. We know we will need to play even better if we are to get past Forfar as they play at a higher level. It is another big challenge for us but I believe we can do well.

“I feel if we can defend well in games, we will always have a chance of winning because we have so much creativity at the top end of the pitch, we will always create openings. I don’t think we will be short of goals this season.”