Veneer help

[a12548]

I used a hot hairdryer and a putty knife to remove the damaged veneer off my turntable board, and underneath, the white oak board has some good gouges and has some splintering. How would I go about preparing this surface for the new veneer. I can sand it but not to the extent of eliminating the gouges. Should I maybe sand as much as I am able to, then wood filler. And then what would I coat it with before glueing. Thanks!

[wjw]

Wood filler will work fine. Two applications (it shrinks) and sand smooth. Shellac is usually the choice to seal the raw wood before applying the glue. Everything seems to stick to shellac.