Boss McInnes turns to young striker after new injury blow

Derek McInnes has been hit with a fresh injury blow after confirming Curtis Main has joined fellow striker Sam Cosgrove on Aberdeen’s casualty list.

McInnes was given the nightmare news earlier this week that last season’s top scorer Cosgrove faces up to two and a half months out of action after tearing knee cartilage during last Saturday’s pre-season clash with Hibernian.

Now, to make matters worse, Cosgrove’s understudy Main has also been ruled out of tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser against Rangers with a thigh strain.

The double injury setback means McInnes will now have to ask youngster Bruce Anderson to lead the line against Steven Gerrard’s side – but insists he has full faith in the 21-year-old.

He said: “Sam’s injury is not helped by the fact that Curtis Main is out for Saturday as well.

“He’s got a thigh strain, so Curtis and Sam are both out. Apart from that, everything else is brilliant.

“Bruce has been doing great anyway through pre-season, so I’ve no qualms about throwing him in.

“We have a young boy who has been champing at the bit. He’s a regular goalscorer and we are fortunate to have him available.

“We’re clearly short on numbers at centre forward, so I walked wee Bruce off the training pitch today just to make sure he was fit. He’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”

Cosgrove – who scored 23 times last term – turned down a £2 million move to French second-tier club Guingamp earlier this summer.

McInnes, who confirmed that former Scotland forward Steven Fletcher is not among his targets, will be denied his services in any case until early October at best, but he admits he is “delighted” the striker is not looking at a longer lay-off.

“It seems a bit silly saying you’re delighted at losing your top scorer for two to three months but it could have been an awful lot worse,” he said.

“It’s only going to be eight to 10 weeks.”