Vicente Besuijen's Aberdeen absence explained as Dutch winger given permission to head home

Aberdeen's Vicente Besuijen has missed the club's past three matches.

Goodwin has been through the mill in recent days and enjoyed little respite on Christmas Day as he reflected on a 3-1 loss to former club St Mirren the previous afternoon.

Aberdeen managed to concede three penalties to undo all the good work of an opening spell when they took the lead through Matty Kennedy’s fine long-range strike. It was the Pittodrie side’s third defeat in succession in a seven-day spell that has also brought narrow losses against Celtic and Rangers.

Besuijen was an unused substitute for the two Old Firm defeats and was absent from the squad for the trip to Paisley leaving fans curious as to what is going on with the winger, who has scored seven goals in 20 appearances this season. He hasn’t featured since coming on as a substitute late on against Dundee United before the World Cup break.

Goodwin expressed the hope that the 21-year-old will be back in the frame for tomorrow’s trip to Kilmarnock after he was given permission to return to the Netherlands for Christmas.

“We’ve had a bit of a bug going through the camp so one or two boys have been missing days here and there,” explained Goodwin. “He’s had a bit of fatigue and we didn’t think he was up to going to Paisley and competing with such a big physical team. Rather than leave him in his flat in Aberdeen we felt it right to give him a couple of days with his family back in Holland.”

Goodwin said the plan for Besuijen was for him to fly back after Christmas and train with the side prior to the Kilmarnock game. The Aberdeen manager does not have his problems to seek although his side have at least held on to third place in the league - for now.

Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes failed to reappear at half-time against St Mirren after suffering an ankle injury following a tackle by Ethan Erhahon. Leighton Clarkson also went off with a thigh strain and Goodwin revealed that Hayden Coulson “took a bang on the ribs” on Saturday, which means he is also a doubt for tomorrow.

Skipper Anthony Stewart’s suspension after being sent off against St Mirren after giving away the first penalty is another headache prior to a fixture against a battling Kilmarnock side managed, of course, by former Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes.

Although the away fans were generally supportive against St Mirren, Goodwin was the target for some stick at the end from one section. He knows what’s at stake in Ayrshire.

“I think we need to win,” he said. “I think that’s the bottom line. There’s a level of expectation at the club that we need to be going to clubs like Kilmarnock and St Mirren and winning.

“I accept that,” he added. “I knew what I was coming into from day one. I love the job I’m in. I don’t take one minute of it for granted. We’ll fight tooth and nail to put things right. We haven’t become a bad team overnight. We’ve not carried a great deal of luck in the last couple of games. Unfortunately, that’s football.”