Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Niall McGinn would relish striking return to help Aberdeen rediscover scoring touch

Niall McGinn scored 21 goals for the Dons as a centre forward during the 2012-13 campaign.
Niall McGinn scored 21 goals for the Dons as a centre forward during the 2012-13 campaign.

Niall McGinn would relish the opportunity to lead the line for Aberdeen and help end their goalscoring woes.

The Dons have struggled to find the back of the net this season with only 16 goals in their opening 13 games in the Scottish Premiership.

They head to Ibrox to face top of the table Rangers this evening without their top goalscorer Gary Mackay-Steven, who has found the back of the net on six occasions this term.

Aberdeen’s frontmen have toiled in front of goal with Sam Cosgrove and James Wilson having only scored twice, while Stevie May has one goal in 16 appearances.

McGinn was deployed as a centre forward during his first season with the Dons and went on to be named the club’s player of the season for the 2012-13 campaign after notching 21 goals and would thrive on the chance to be Aberdeen’s leading man once again.

He said: “If I was asked to play up front I would definitely do that.

“But it has been one of those ones since the manager’s come in he’s played me out wide.

“My first season under Craig Brown I enjoyed it immensely. I scored a lot of goals and played with a lot of freedom.

“I scored 21 goals that season which was massive for me.

“That stemmed from Craig Brown having faith in me and playing me week in and week out through the middle.

“It turned out to be a good season for me.

“If I was asked to play through the middle again, would I do it? Yes I would.

“If that opportunity came along I would try to grab it with both hands.”

The Dons return to action for the first time since Sunday’s Betfred Cup final defeat by Celtic when they take on Rangers at Ibrox.

Steven Gerrard’s side will be brimming with confidence after moving top of the Premiership with a 2-1 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday.

But McGinn sees no reason why the Dons can’t record another victory over the Gers, having knocked them out of the Betfred Cup with a 1-0 victory at Hampden in October.

The Northern Ireland international said: “Their home form has been magnificent this season and they have looked strong in Europe.

“Even when they have gone down to 10 men, they have shown how strong they can be.

“We know it is going to be a massive ask and it may take a bit more than the semi-final as they have their strikers back.

“Alfredo Morelos has probably been their main player. He creates a lot of chances and scores goals.

“We are going to need to be on our toes defensively but we have won at Ibrox before.

“We weren’t at our best at the start of the season but we managed to grind out a 1-1 draw.

“The semi-final was a classic example of us defending very well and taking our chance when it came along.

“It is going to be very tough game but one that requires no motivation after losing a final.”