Aberdeen are set to open contract talks with Ryan Hedges and manager Stephen Glass has told the winger that he can yet further his career in the north-east. Reports yesterday suggested that Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough were targeting the 26-year-old, whose contract expires next summer.
Hedges has travelled with the Aberdeen squad to Iceland for tonight’s Europa Conference League qualifier against Breidablik but may be rested having suffered an ankle injury last week against Hacken in Sweden. The Welsh international has become a fans’ favourite since moving to Pittodrie from Barnsley in 2019.
Playing regular international football with Wales is an ambition of Hedges’ but he has not been capped during his time with Aberdeen.
“We love Ryan at this club and from his performances recently you can see he loves playing here,” Glass said. “We think he is in a great place to further his career. He’s going to play for us as regularly as his performances warrant. He plays for a great club and in front of a public that likes watching him play. We will see how it goes but he’s on the flight with us and he’s got a chance of playing tonight.”
When asked if a new deal was being considered, Glass said: “Yes. We don’t want to let players’ contracts to run into their last year. It something that has happened since before I got here. It exposes us slightly, the fact that he is in his last year. But I think if he is being sensible, he is at a great club, he is doing well, he is enjoying his football.
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“He’s a really attractive player and if he does really well you never know what can happen for him. It’s important to me that players don’t jump at the first opportunity. He can sign for someone in January but I think he has to be careful who he selects if he does that. Or does he choose to stay here where he is enjoying his football and doing really well?”
Aberdeen have started the season in a positive manner with victories over Hacken and Dundee United either side of a defeat to the Swedes. Glass started with two young full backs in Calvin Ramsay, 18, and Jack MacKenzie, 21, against United and he is aware that their game time will have to be managed.
“They’re flying at the moment, but we do need to manage that,” he said. “It’s picking and choosing when you manage it. I’d say, first leg of a European game away from home is probably when you pick what you believe is your strongest group, or close to, to win the game or make it very difficult for the opponents.
“I don’t think we’re at the stage of needing to protect players yet. We trained a lot in pre-season and didn’t play a lot of games. I think in pre-season you play this sort of heavy workload of games [that they’re currently going through], they just happen to be competitive at the minute. It’s not something that’s a concern at the moment with the physical capabilities the players have.”
Although Aberdeen will be expected to overcome Breidablik, Glass is expecting a tough challenge. “We’ve watched their last few games so we kind of know roughly what they are,” Glass said. “They’re a good team, they’re not the biggest team, but they’re pretty quick around the park. I know, traditionally, that they’re one of the more technical football teams in the country and I think that’s a habit throughout the club. I don’t see them changing that because they’re playing us.”