Peter Leven undergoes emergency surgery as Aberdeen FC interim boss to miss St Johnstone clash

Peter Leven will MISS Aberdeen's game with St Johnstone after an emergency operation.

The interim Dons boss was admitted to hospital on Friday night with the procedure a success. The club say that he will make a full and swift recovery from his surgery and will be in full contract with the managerial team of Scott Anderson, Craig Samson, Jonny Hayes and Stuart Duff - who will lead the team for their Scottish Premiership clash.

A club statement published on the website on Saturday morning said: "Interim head coach Peter Leven was last night admitted to hospital where he underwent an emergency procedure. The operation was a success, and we expect Peter to make a full and swift recovery. Scott Anderson, alongside Craig Samson, Jonny Hayes and Stuart Duff, will lead the team for the match this afternoon against St Johnstone. Peter, who prepared training all week, will be in contact with his staff throughout the afternoon. Everyone at AFC sends their best wishes to Peter and we look forward to seeing him back at the training ground next week."

The news comes after Leven revealed Jimmy Thelin has already started his Aberdeen revolution. The Swede is still at Elfsborg but held a Zoom call with Leven and other members of the Dons staff this week to make plans for pre-season and beyond. Thelin will take over the Pittodrie hotseat at the start of June, after his final match against Gothenburg.

Interim boss Leven said: “We had a brief call last night, the staff, just to introduce ourselves. Then after that, the sports scientist and I had a little chat about the pre-season, where we want to go and stuff. You have to start making plans for next season or you end up getting left behind. You don’t get the right training facility abroad or the right pre-season games. So it’s important that we need to get it done and have it nailed down soon.”

Thelin’s assistant coaches Emir Bajrami and Christer Persson were also on the call and Leven was introduced to them for the first time. He said: “It was good for the staff to see him for the first time and say hello to him. It was the first time I had actually talked with Emir and Christer. It was brief and we’ll get to know them when they’re in the building. I think Emir is not long retired. The three of us will work with Jimmy and he will be the boss.”

Leven knows the demands of Aberdeen will be an eye-opener for Thelin – because it was for him. He added: “I said to him the other day I didn’t realise how big this club was until I had been here – and I grew up in Glasgow. The demands of the fans and people around the city is huge, so expect it.”