Facing West Brom in their final pre-season friendly is the ideal way for Aberdeen to prepare for their European campaign.
The Dons take on Burnley in the Europa League second qualifying round, with the first leg at Pittodrie on Thursday July 26.
Before that clash the Reds face the Baggies on Friday in their final pre-season game.
The match against Darren Moore’s team, who were relegated to the English Championship last season, will be a good test for Aberdeen.
The style of play they will come up against will be similar to facing the Clarets.
It’s the perfect game to finish off pre-season and set them up for Burnley because the style of football is different down south.
It will give the Reds an indication of the style and also the quality they will have to compete against when they face Burnley.
It will be a good test for the players before meeting Sean Dyche’s team.
If you can get a warm-up game against an outfit who play a similar style to your European opponents, it’s good.
A lot of the time in Euro competition you are not entirely sure of what you have to compete against and it’s rare that you can warm up against teams from the same country.
This friendly has been arranged to give a measure of what they will face against Burnley.
It’s better to have that kind of insight rather than drawing teams from countries who have different styles and mentalities.
Although the English game has a lot of foreign players in it, it’s similar in style to the Scottish game.
The approach and the attitude is also similar compared with some of the more far-flung European opponents.
There are players in the Aberdeen squad who will view the clash with West Brom as the chance to secure their place in Derek McInnes’ team for the Burnley tie.
Young players like Lewis Ferguson and Scott Wright have impressed in pre-season and this is a chance for them and others in the Pittodrie squad to be a stand-out again.
Friendlies are all about giving players a chance.
Those who line up against the Baggies on Friday will want to put themselves in McInnes’ thoughts when it comes to selecting his team to face Burnley.
As a player it’s about standing up and grasping the moment. It’s always better if you impress against quality and when West Brom come to the Granite City it will be a good chance to do just that.
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