CONNOR BARRON is aiming to emulate fellow Aberdeen academy graduates Scott McKenna and Calvin Ramsay after being given a first team debut by manager Stephen Glass.
The midfielder admitted he was “buzzing” that he had been offered a sooner-than-expected opportunity to show the Dons fans that the club was right to recall him from his loan spell at Kelty Hearts two weeks ago, hand him a new deal until 2024 and told he was now part of the Pittodrie first-team squad.
To then be introduced as a substitute for the second half of the 3-0 Scottish Cup fourth round win against Edinburgh City at the weekend was, as they say in football circles, “a bonus” for the youngster.
Now, he wants to establish himself, just as McKenna, who moved to the English Championship in a £3m transfer to Nottingham Forest last year, and Ramsay, the full-back currently attracting interest from major Premier League clubs, have done.
Barron produced a competent display as he and his team-mates overpowered Gary Naysmith’s League Two outfit with goals from Ryan Hedges, Christian Ramirez and Lewis Ferguson to set-up a last-16 tie at Motherwell next month.
“The manager knows what I can do,” Barron said. “There is that trust there and it is up to me to go and show I can do it on the pitch.”
The youngster admitted he was inspired by the rapid rise of McKenna and Ramsay, the £4m-rated defender now on the radar of top clubs like Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle, with Eintracht Frankfurt and Bologna also showing an interest.
“The pathway is there to go when the opportunity is right and you are ready for it,” he said. “Talking about inspiration, we have Scott Brown and Lewis Ferguson in the middle of the park.
“There are a lot of big names to take advice from and learn from. I am enjoying every minute of being involved.”
Barron was pleased that his ex-colleagues at Kelty won through to the next stage of the competition with their shock home victory over holders St Johnstone and put it down to manager Kevin Thomson’s insistence on the more technical side of the game.
“It was great at Kelty,” he insisted. “One of the things about me going was that Kevin Thomson was there and they were a side who wanted to play football. That sold it for me. They are a good footballing side with a lot of experienced players. I learned a lot from them and I feel I have come back to Aberdeen a better player.
“Hopefully, they can get a run in the cup and the league and go on and have a medal at the end of the season.”
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