Nicky Devlin revealed Barry Robson’s desire to bring him to Aberdeen played a huge part in his decision to leave Livingston for the Granite City.

A recently-leaked photograph appeared to showed the 29-year-old Livi captain, a free agent at the end of this season,  being paraded by the Dons.

Ahead of the home game against Motherwell on Wednesday night, Devlin, who joined Livingston from Walsall in 2019 revealed the contract  “has not all been ticked off yet” but spoke openly about the main reasons behind him opting for Aberdeen.

He said: “I spoke to the manager few times and I know one of his backroom staff up there, Liam Fox.

“Speaking to him (manager) it felt like they were a club pushing the boat out more than any other.

“For me it was a very similar feeling to when I signed for Livingston.

“When I spoke to the manager here at the time, David Martindale, they obviously made it clear they wanted me to come here. That makes it a wee bit easier.

“Aberdeen looks like a club on the way up, especially from recent seasons.

“The style of play they have adopted since the new manager came in suits me and hopefully everything going well we will be in European football next season as well which is obviously a big lure.

“It is a massive football club, one of the biggest clubs in the country and I think anyone would be silly to turn their nose up at that.

“But it was extremely difficult. I am at a club where I feel loved and in a place where I love to be, I love playing here and that made it so much harder to make the decision to maybe move on.”