If Danny Lennon, the St Mirren manager, has been briefed on how best to overcome Aberdeen in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Communities League Cup at Pittodrie tonight then three words will have been uttered: stop Ryan Fraser.

Lennon will have been made aware of the winger's attributes as Craig Brown, the Pittodrie club's manager, looks to secure his future on a long-term contract.

That issue, Brown made clear yesterday, is now in the hands of Duncan Fraser, Aberdeen's chief executive, as news of the 18-year-old's skill, energy and exuberance filters south, prompting talent scouts from the game's bigger clubs to come and see for themselves if he is as good as they've heard.

The manager hopes that money will not be a primary consideration and has already counselled the youngster that remaining in place for a while longer might benefit his career, not to say his bank balance, in the longer term.

He pointed to Fraser Fyvie, who left Pittodrie for Wigan Athletic in the summer, and to Chris Maguire, now at his third club in the npower Championship since his departure, initially for Derby County 18 months ago, as examples that the grass is not always greener down south.

"I think Ryan should learn his trade at Pittodrie," Brown said. "But I can be accused of being selfish because I want him sto stay.

"However, I genuinely feel it is in his own interests to remain with us and become an established player before he moves to England.

"Look at the ones who have left in my time at Aberdeen. Chris Maguire is on his third team [he is now at Sheffield Wednesday following a spell at Portsmouth] and never seen, and Fyvie, who had the highest profile and was an under-21 internationalist, has been on the bench only twice, in cup competitions, for Wigan.

"Would you be better to be Ryan Fraser playing in front of 10,000 fans at Pittodrie, or to be Fyvie playing on the Wigan training ground?

"I think he'll go to the very top but I hope he won't leave soon. He has the right mentality and the right ability and a powerful body. You've seen players with all the skill in the world but you can blow them over."

Brown, who has led his side to a dozen games without defeat, is likely to field the team which overcame Dundee on Saturday and in which Niall McGinn scored his fifth goal of the season.

Mark Reynolds, whose defensive prowess alongside Russell Anderson has helped Aberdeen to a defensive record this season that, along with Celtic, is the SPL's best, rates St Mirren highly and expects tonight's game to be "a classic cup tie".

"St Mirren are a very good side but we have shown this season that we, too, are good side and if we can play the way we have been playing, we should win through."