Barry Robson admits it was a surprise to see Duk absent from the PFA Player of the Year nominations. 

The Portuguese striker has enjoyed a stellar first season in Scottish football. He’s scored 18 times and contributed six assists in 40 appearances across all competitions so far.  

The 23-year-old has been part of a formidable frontline for the Dons, partnering Bojan Miovski up top, and has been included in the PFA’s best XI from this campaign. 

He misses out on the four-man shortlist for Premiership POTY though, with Celtic trio Kyogo, Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor, and Motherwell talisman Kevin van Veen all earning their inclusions.  

“I’m a bit surprised, yeah,” Robson revealed. “That’s not to take away from the other players who have been terrific. It’s not easy to get into that select few. I see Duk is included in the Team of the Year.   

“You need to remember that some of the other players’ performances in there have been really high. Some of the Celtic players have been outstanding and I think big Van Veen at Motherwell has scored 25 goals this season, which is a terrific return. He’s done really well.   

“I’m just biased because I love the boys here and they’ve been great for me. Every manager will be the same.   

“We just need to keep performing well and hopefully score a right few more goals before the end of the season, when maybe the vote should’ve been done.”  

READ MORE: Kevin van Veen offers update on Motherwell future

Asked about coaching Duk, the Dons boss added: “He’s brilliant. He takes on information, he’s humble and he wants to do well. He’s a good teammate.   

“You can see him struggling a wee bit with the language, especially when he’s trying to listen to me! I think he understands Aggers a bit better than me. That’s why I just walk him into positions. He’s a pleasure to work with.   

“There’s been lots of stuff we’ve worked on. We’ve had to be careful that there’s not been a real information overload. There’s a certain type of way we want to play, there’s a lot of structure we build in to let us be good at attacking.   

“It’s far too much detail to go into, but it’s every day, there’s a lot of analysis and screens. Lots of stuff goes on in the training pitch every day. There’s a lot of communication but we need to do it in a simplistic form. But Duk takes everything in.”  

Robson remained coy on any conversations Aberdeen may have had with the Scottish FA regarding the non-award of a penalty for Connor Goldson’s foul on Duk last weekend. 

“The one thing I will say is that we have all seen it,” he said. “Let’s move on. We all make our minds up.”  

Robson hopes to have Ross McCrorie back from injury soon, with the defender stepping up his recovery in the gym.

Several of Aberdeen’s loan players have finished their seasons north and south of the border, including club captain Anthony Stewart at MK Dons.

And the 44-year-old admits some conversations have been had, with some still to be organised. He said: “The likes of Dean Campbell I’ve spoken to. We’ve also got Jack Milne and Kieran Ngwenya returning from loan.  

“I’ve told them they need to focus on the gym work, for now, to prepare their bodies for next season, to get bulked up. It’s a good couple of weeks for them when they can’t play for us.  

“We might take them out training on a couple of days but it’s more to get them focussed and ready for next year.” 

“We’ve got a lot of decisions to make about a lot of players. Once I’ve spoken to them about that I can let you know.”