Aberdeen have found some momentum ahead of their Scottish Cup semi-final. A first league win of the year at Pittodrie against Motherwell was followed up by a comfortable victory at Dens Park over Dundee last weekend. One key performer in the past few fixtures for the Dons has been Niall McGinn.
The 31-year old has hit five goals in seven games. His performances have went up a notch since the winter break. He has been a decent impact player for the Dons in recent weeks.
With terrific goals and bits of skills entwined throughout his performances, McGinn is fast becoming a crucial part of Aberdeen’s attacking endeavours, helping Sam Cosgrove with contributions on the goal front.
The Northern Irishman wasn’t quite hitting expectations early on in the season. He has came back with a bang since the winter break though, trebling his tally from the first half of the season.
With crucial games ahead of them, McGinn’s form couldn’t have came at a better time for Aberdeen.
Class is permanent
The winger has scored eight since the turn of the year, including a strike for his country against Estonia. The Northern Irishman is just two goals shy of hitting the net 80 times for the Dons. That puts him just outside the top 20 in Aberdeen’s all time top goalscorers list.
With a semi-final game against Celtic and the race for Europe to deal with, Dons boss Derek McInnes will be delighted with McGinn’s return to form. The winger is proving class is permanent with his performances.
Against his former employers Celtic, the Northern Irishman will be crucial. He’ll have a tough task up against Kieran Tierney, but his experience and trickery on the ball sets the stage for an intriguing battle against the Celtic wonderkid.
Aberdeen are well in the European hunt and McGinn will be vital. His goals have came at crucial times recently, including two sweet strikes against Motherwell which somewhat eased the Pittodrie fears.
Cosgrove is Aberdeen’s focal point and McGinn will have to supply the ammo for the target man. Playing as positively as he is just now, McGinn’s form could lead to an upturn in form for Cosgrove as well.
In the business end of the season, you need your big players to step up. With experience and excellent ability, McGinn will be looked upon to come up with the goods at crucial times for the Dons.
If McInnes’ men are to have any success come the end of the season, he’ll need his Northern Irish winger to continue performing as he is now.