Nicky Devlin Aberdeen FC contract latest as Jimmy Thelin hails Dons 'ambassador'
Jimmy Thelin has made it clear that he wants 'Aberdeen ambassador' Nicky Devlin to stay for the long haul.
Influential defender Devlin, 30, is out of contract at Pittodrie next summer along with Jamie McGrath and Jack MacKenzie. Thelin has urged the club to tie the trio down on new deals and the Dons boss admits he can't afford to lose ex-Livingston star Devlin's leadership qualities.
He said: "Nicky behaves like a really good Aberdeen ambassador and is a player we want to see here for a longer time. You can have different leadership. Some players have the technical knowledge to lead the team.
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"Some players have it with effort on the pitch and then some have it the way they act in the dressing room. I think we have different leaders in this team and they help each other in a good way. The most important thing is that if you are a leader then you must take responsibility, and he's done it really well."
Thelin can equal Martin O'Neill's start at Celtic 24 years ago if Aberdeen win at Dens Park on Saturday and make it a dozen wins on the bounce under the Swede. But the Pittodrie boss knows his side can't afford to take their eye off the ball after recently surviving a nervy fightback from Motherwell.
He added: "We played 80 minutes really well and deserved to win, but ten minutes can be enough for an opponent to get some chances. And Motherwell almost got one point and that has to be a learning point for us. We take that, learn from it and to keep playing as we were a little bit open as a team.
"There was too much distance between our units and players, so they started to win more space. They are good with the crosses and how they create from corners and throw-ins. There are things they did really well but we spoke about it as we need to be more consistent."