Paul Sheerin’s U20 side will have some new faces this season and a number of these boys will in action tomorrow as an Aberdeen XI travel to Peterhead for a pre-season friendly. KO at Balmoor is at 2.00pm.

There are six new players who will be part of Paul’s U20 squad this season. Connor McLennan and Bruce Anderson have made the step up from the AFC Youth Academy whilst four boys have signed from other clubs.

Striker Joe Nuttall has arrived from Manchester City.  The 18-year-old is a product of the English Premier League club's youth academy.

Goalkeeper David Craddock has joined the Dons from Shelbourne in Ireland. David was selected for Under 17 Republic of Ireland side for the UEFA U17 Championships Finals in Bulgaria in May.

Liam Lambert was formally with Wigan Athletic. Liam is a left sided player who can play at left back or left midfield.

And Dylan Thomas, a central midfielder, was formerly with Premiership side Swansea City and is from Port Talbot in Wales.

Both Liam and Dylan travelled with the club to Austria for the U20 pre-season training camp and impressed coach Paul Sheerin when they were over there.

Meanwhile Head of the AFC Youth Academy Neil Simpson gave us the lowdown on his latest graduates:
“Connor has been in with the club since he was nine and came in from Peterhead Boys Club. He was involved with Jim Crawford’s Advanced Youth Skills Centre and then started playing with the U10s. Connor is a striker and had an excellent season last year with the U17s and really matured. The icing on the cake came when he got a run out for the U20s on the final day of the season against Hibs. He also represented Scotland at U16 and U17 level last season which was a really big achievement.

“Bruce comes from Banff. He was spotted playing for a team in that area and came for a trial. He did well but was not quite ready to be signed. He stayed with his boys club and come in one night a week for a year. He eventually joined the Academy at U14 level and has really come on over the past year or so. He is an attacking player who can play a number of different positions. Bruce can link the midfield and the attack. He is dynamic, has pace and is a good goal scorer.

“Bruce also made his debut for the U20s last season against Hibs and both of them trained with the squad for a while to prepare them for coming in full time. Their performances for the U17s merited them getting this opportunity.”

We wish all our new arrivals the very best of lucky during their careers at Pittodrie. www.afc.co.uk and RedMatchday will be catching up with them all in the weeks ahead.