Aberdeen: 'Fantastic team-mate' Tomas Cerny retires through injury

Capped at Under-21 level for the Czech Republic, Cerny spent five years at Hamilton and had three seasons with Partick Thistle

Former Hamilton Accies and Partick Thistle goalkeeper Tomas Cerny has left Aberdeen and retired from football due to an ongoing knee problem.

The 35-year-old Czech has been at Pittodrie since the summer of 2018, making just one start as back-up to Dons captain Joe Lewis.

With Cerny injured, Gary Woods was signed on loan in October from Oldham Athletic with his deal is now extended.

"My career comes to an end," Cerny told the club website.

"It is not the way I planned it, but my knee injury means I'm not able to take part in regular training and matches."

Cerny, who plans to remain in Scotland and train as a PE teacher, added: "I'd have liked to play a few more games for Aberdeen, but it is credit to Joe Lewis, he has been terrific, very consistent and producing great performances week in, week out."

Manager Derek McInnes added: "It is a sad decision Tomas has had to make. He thought long and hard about it. We wanted Tomas to be part of the squad this season, but with the injury and the rehabilitation just taking that bit longer, Tomas has come to that conclusion.

"Not all the signings need to be brilliant on the pitch. Off it, he has been a huge supporter of team, a huge supporter of Joe Lewis and working closely with Gordon Marshall and his enthusiasm for the team to win all the time has been clear.

"In the dugout, he celebrates a goal more than anybody else and he has been a fantastic team-mate."