Aberdeen already have a mountain to climb to get past Rijeka in the Europa League, but that task may get harder with injury fears over Sam Cosgrove.
The talisman missed the recent St Mirren clash with a hamstring injury. His absence was very visible, as the Dons crashed to a 1-0 defeat with a pretty toothless performance.
Derek McInnes has conceded that he doesn’t know whether his star striker will make the crucial Europa League clash.
He told the Aberdeen website: “Sam had a tightness in his hamstring yesterday. He reported with it when he started doing his work yesterday morning in the warm-up.
“We tried to give him every chance but he just felt it was becoming more of an issue and we decided not to bring him with us so he could stay back and get some treatment in Aberdeen. He will get a scan tomorrow.
He will be touch and go for Thursday. Any team would miss someone in Sam’s form and we are hopeful he will still make it but at this stage it is not clear yet.”
Cosgrove will be key to any Aberdeen success over Rijeka
The Dons will probably have to better their fine 3-0 win over the Croatians from 2015 to progress. The chances of them scoring three without reply again are slim.
If they are to pull off that incredible feat, they need Cosgrove. Eight of the Red Army’s 13 goals this season have been scored by the Englishman.
Without him against Rijeka, they can wave goodbye to the play-off round. McInnes’ men already have to turn over a two goal defecit, how will they manage that without their top scorer?
Against St Mirren, Curtis Main didn’t impress. He did a lot of huffing and puffing, but didn’t do anything going forward.
He struggled against St Mirren, so he’ll likely have a harder night up against the sturdy Rijeka defence if he’s to deputise for his teammate.
Many of the chances Aberdeen create need Cosgrove on the end of them if they’re to end up in the back of the net, Without him against Rijeka, Aberdeen will struggle to score the amount of goals needed to progress to the play-off round.