Aberdeen defender Andy Considine reckons it is only natural clubs south of the border will have taken notice of forward Sam Cosgrove’s goalscoring streak.
The Dons support face an anxious wait to see if central defender Scott McKenna remains at Pittodrie beyond the English transfer deadline on Thursday with Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers already having had bids kicked out for the Scotland international.
But Considine fears Cosgrove’s prowess in front of goal will also have caught the eye. The 22-year-old, who joined the Reds from Carlisle United in January 2018, took his tally for the season to six goals in four games with a hat-trick against Chikhura in Thursday’s 5-0 Europa League trouncing as the Dons eased into the third qualifying round where they will meet Croatian side HNK Rijeka.
Ahead of tomorrow’s season-opener against Hearts, Considine is keeping his fingers crossed Cosgrove, who has scored 25 goals in his last 32 appearances for the Dons, is going nowhere other than Rijeka on Thursday. He said: “It is fantastic and his record is comparable to the likes of what Alfredo Morelos and Leigh Griffiths have produced in recent seasons.
“To have a young lad at Aberdeen doing that is fantastic and a lot of that goes down to the manager and Tony Docherty, who spent umpteen hours after training doing shooting with him.
“He gets a lot of flak for some reason and a lot of people forget that he is still a young boy at 22.
“He is still learning his trade but against Chikhura he was outstanding and also for more than three quarters of last season.
“He bullies defenders and the finish for his third goal, with the outside of his foot, was outstanding.
“He gets himself into some great positions and when you play three upfront he plays the lone striker well, gets us up the park and holds the ball in really well.
“I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a lot of interest.
“If he keeps playing like that and showing like he has in Europe then there will definitely be teams looking at him.”
Considine partnered McKenna at the heart of the Aberdeen defence on Thursday with Ash Taylor and Mikey Devlin both missing through injury.
Dons manager Derek McInnes expects more bids to arrive for McKenna over the coming days but Considine hopes the Dons hold their resolve.
He said: “It would be great, ideally, if he was on the plane with us.
“Big Scott has been our biggest performer since he came into the first-team.
“He is a man-mountain of a guy and a very good footballer.
“He can score goals and you don’t captain your country if you are not doing something right.
“It has been great to have him in the team and play alongside him but if he is not here next week then I will wish him all the best.
“He is a lovely lad, who deserves to go down south to the best teams and I know he will kick on.
“He is already established at international level and he will get 60 or 70 caps.”