Shinnie reveals his picks for Aberdeen armband when he leaves for Derby

Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie says there are “loads” of leaders in the Dons dressing room who could inherit the armband next season.

Shinnie, 27, will leave the Reds at the end of his deal after next week’s final Premiership game against Hibs at Easter Road.

The midfielder has agreed to join English Premier League promotion hopefuls Derby County on a three-year deal.

Shinnie, who arrived at Pittodrie in summer 2015 when his Inverness Caley deal expired, inherited the armband ahead of the Scottish Cup final loss to Celtic in 2017, after it was revealed previous skipper Ryan Jack had agreed a pre-contract with Premiership rivals Rangers.

He thinks there are more captains-in-waiting among the Reds’ ranks.

Shinnie said: “There are a load of boys in the dressing room who have that personality – Big Joe, Andy, Scotty, Mikey Devlin.

“They’ve all got leadership qualities. As much as I’m leader of the club they always help me out in terms of leading the team as much as I do.

“There are plenty of boys who could take it on.”

Keeper Joe Lewis signed a new five-year deal with Aberdeen two weeks ago and rarely misses a minute for the Dons, while defender Andy Considine – who also committed to the club – is the longest-serving player at Pittodrie.

Considine has had a great season, playing mostly at centre-back.

Scott McKenna captained Scotland in last summer’s friendlies against Peru and Mexico, as well as skippering Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup final loss to Celtic in Shinnie’s absence.

Devlin’s had a stop-start season at Pittodrie after making his comeback from a serious knee injury at the start of the campaign. He joined from Hamilton Accies – where he was club captain – during his recovery last January.

Meanwhile, Shinnie delved deeper into his reasons for choosing Derby, with several English Championship sides chasing his signature, as well as a new deal – which would’ve made him the Dons’ best-paid player – on the table at Pittodrie.

Derby are in the Premier League play-offs and have a real desire to get back into the world’s richest league, which impressed the Aberdonian.

Shinnie said: “I’ve got a chance to go down to a club who are trying to push for the Premier League.

“They’ve still got a chance this year, and when I went down and spoke to them it was all about trying to get that promotion.

“To have the chance to go down and help them do that (should they still be in the Championship next season) was important for me. It’s a challenge I’ll look forward to after my business is done here.”

Shinnie described the “nice” bonus for a midfielder that Derby are managed by one of England’s best ever in Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.

Lampard – more attack-minded than the combative Shinnie – scored 177 Premier League goals in 609 appearances.

He was appointed Rams boss – his first chance in the dug-out – at the beginning of this term.

Shinnie said: “It’s a nice added bonus to have the calibre of players he (Lampard) was (at Derby). Now he’s a good manager.

“It’s something I’ll enjoy and I’ll thrive working under him and experience new things.”