A former Real Madrid “B” player will be at the heart of the Brechin defence when they take on Aberdeen tonight at the Glebe.
The game is to help the Dons prepare for their early Europa League qualifier, with Derek McInnes’s side being pulled out of the hat against Latvian outfit Daugava in Tuesday’s draw in Switzerland.
However, Brechin boss Ray McKinnon admits that even with Cruz in the ranks, his team could struggle against an Aberdeen side who have just returned from a week-long training camp in Ireland.
He said: “They will be miles ahead of us in terms of preparation. They have been training and playing games in Ireland and are obviously a full-time side.
“I believe that Derek has put together a really good squad for the season ahead and they should really push Celtic.
“Hopefully the game will pull in a fair bit of revenue for us as Aberdeen always bring a crowd and their fans will no doubt want to get a first look at their new signings.”
McKinnon added: “We should have 13 to 14 bodies in place for the game. We are far behind Aberdeen with the likes of Alan Trouten and Paul McLean just back from holiday.
“They only trained for the first time on Monday night. At a push, they might manage 15 minutes or so.
“Unfortunately, one of the trialists we have had in training with us has injured his knee and will be out for a while.
“However, we have another trialist centre-half Edu Cruz over from Spain. He has apparently played for Real Madrid’s ‘B’ team and he has looked really good in training so we will see what he can do in a game.”
Tonight’s match kicks off at 7.45pm.