NEIL: REDS ARE AS BIG AS HEARTS

ABERDEEN'S latest signing Neil MacFarlane insists his new club are every bit as big as Hearts.

The 28-year-old midfielder, who negotiated his release from Tynecastle after losing out to the invasion of foreign stars, sealed his switch to Pittodrie last night then claimed Jimmy Calderwood's transfer plans will transform Aberdeen.

MacFarlane said: "It's a real privilege to be joining a club that's just as big as the one I've left and with the potenti al to do just as well in the future.

"The aim is to help Aberdeen clinch a top-six place then have a real go at getting into the UEFA Cup next season, which is definitely possible.

"Hearts finished third last season and I had a taste of European football when we got through to the group stage of the UEFA Cup.

"Now I want more of the same at Aberdeen and it's a challenge I look forward to. I can guarantee that Aberdeen are getting a hard-working player who will always give everything for the team.

"I can understand how things worked out as they did at Tynecastle. An injury didn't help but I didn't get as many games as I would have liked this season. And the team kept winning when I was out.

"But I can look back on three great years at Tynecastle. I just want to get back playing as often as possible."

MacFarlane has accepted a six-month deal and chance to make the move permanent and Dons boss Calderwood was relieved to secure the midfield enforcer his side has lacked since the departure of Finland international Markus Heikkinen last summer.

Calderwood, who will hand MacFarlane his debut against Kilmarnock tomorrow, said: "He's tall, powerful with a physical presence and high energy. He gets about the park well and will bring a different balance to our midfield. Looking at the schedule that lies ahead, we will definitely need that quality.

"He's a player I've always liked when we played against Hearts and when the opportunity arose, we moved to sign him.

"From speaking to people in the game he's regarded as a model pro and showed a great deal of character to come back from a serious injury a few seasons ago. I believe he'll prove an asset."

While Calderwood and his No.2 Jimmy Nicholl were in England, Dons supremo Willie Miller did the groundwork on the MacFarlane deal and set up his medical.

Meanwhile, former Leeds midfielder Jamie Winter will quit the Dons for a spell on loan at St Johnstone.

Calderwood said: "Before the transfer window opened I said that players would have to leave Pittodrie before new ones came in.

"Jamie hasn't been involved in the first team so often this term. He'll get that chance at Perth and hopefully come back a better player.

"The scouting trip this week went well. It is now a matter of weighing up all the players we assessed and making our moves. I'm confident these will prove productive before the transfer deadline expires."

Taken from the Daily Record