Good news
Dons boost as Fyvie hits road to recovery
By Michael Gannon
Published: 30/03/2011
Aberdeen manager Craig Brown is hoping Fraser Fyvie can save the Dons a small fortune this summer by precluding the need to buy a new midfielder.
Fyvie, who was 18 on Sunday, is on the long road back from injury after rupturing a cruciate ligament in Aberdeen's League Cup third-round tie on Alloa's artificial pitch last August.
The Scotland youth international still has some way to go. He has been able to return to some light training, but he is not scheduled to rejoin the Dons squad until pre- season.
The midfielder was one of the few bright spots of last season and has been a miss this term. Brown, who arrived at Pittodrie last December, has witnessed very little of the playmaker, who last January became the youngest goalscorer in SPL history when he netted against Hearts at just 16 years and 10 months.
Brown said: “Fraser Fyvie is a player I have heard a lot of from people at the club. I only saw him in the flesh at the end of last season against St Mirren but I saw a lot of him on DVDs and read the reports.
“I was aware of his great achievement of scoring against Hearts. He is spoken about very highly at Aberdeen and it will be great to have him back for next season. It will be like the old cliche of having a new player.
“The same could be said for our other long-term injury absentees Darren Mackie and Yoann Folly. They will be like new signings.
“I am sure Fyvie could save the club a fair amount of money. With Ryan Jack doing so well, it will be exciting to have some very talented young players on the books."
Another promising youngster is on the mend in Peter Pawlett. The 19-year-old has been blighted by a wretched run of injury misfortune, with a broken toe and ankle trouble adding to previous hamstring and knee problems. He has been limited to just five starts this season and has not started since the 3-1 defeat at Dundee United last September.
But he has resumed training and is once more competing for a first-team role.
His timing could be apt, with Aberdeen without captain Paul Hartley out for this weekend's vital SPL trip to Motherwell and Brown facing limited midfield options.
Brown said: “Pawlett is taking part in full training again with the first-team squad. He has been very unfortunate with injuries but he is fit and in contention for a place.
“He has had injury problems but, hopefully, they are behind him."
Brown also hopes defender David McNamee's injury problems are behind him but he remains a doubt for Saturday's encounter at Fir Park, with centre back Zander Diamond serving a suspension.
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