Dons to hit January sales

Inverness Caley Thistle goalkeeper Mark Brown, skipper Bobby Mann and strikers Dennis Wyness and Barry Robson are high on Paterson's wanted list.

Dunfermline defender Scott Thomson is also under consideration should he fail to agree a new deal at East End Park.

'Pele' is keen to completely overhaul his Pittodrie squad unless his current players improve dramatically before the winter break.

Dons assistant boss Duncan Shearer will be casting his eye over several targets, saying that Paterson is also keen to bring in more width.

"Steve's determined not to go down the route of having a go at the past management," said Shearer.

"But we've noticed a distinct lack of balance in the squad. We've got 26 players and only two left footers.

"There is a lack of width down both flanks and Stevie's teams have always had two wide midfield players.

"So to say two wide players are on our agenda would be an understatement - that's the first thing we'll be looking at.

"I've just come from the manager's office and while I took the boys for training he was sitting writing out a long list of potential targets.

"They are realistic ones - we're not talking about going out and buying a player for £200,000."

Shearer says that the management duo were amazed at the size of the job they encountered on their arrival at the club, saying that the only players staying will be the ones who really want to play for the club.

"We're shocked at how big a job this is going to be but there are some very good players here. It's just a matter of us finding out who wants to play for Aberdeen.

"There were five or six players in the changing room at Dunfermline who were really hurt. They are lads who have been here quite a while and you could see how bad they felt."