SAM Cosgrove has revealed he wants to overtake Alfredo Morelos in the Ladbrokes Premiership scoring charts and help Aberdeen catch Rangers in the process.
Cosgrove took his goals tally in the league in the 2018/19 campaign to 13 with a double in the game against Rangers at Pittodrie on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old is still two behind of Morelos as the Colombian also netted twice before being sent off in a game that Steven Gerrard’s side won 4-2.
However, the Englishman, who has now been on target 12 times in as many games for Derek McInnes’s team in all competitions, confessed it is his ambition to finish the season as the leading marksman in the Premiership.
“I want to score as many goals as I can,” he said. “It should be any striker’s aim to be the top scorer in the league, especially at a top club like Aberdeen where we’re always pushing most teams and scoring a lot of goals.
“I want to be the staple of that and I want to get as many goals and therefore as many points for my team as I can. I’m feeling confident at the moment.”
The loss to Rangers – the first time in four meeting this season that Aberdeen have been beaten by their fierce rivals – in midweek put the Ibrox team five points clear in second place in the top flight table.
But Cosgrove, who will be hoping to help McInnes’s men book a place in the William Hill Scottish Cup final by beating Queen of the South at home on Sunday, stressed they aren’t despondent.
“There is still a lot of football to be played and a lot of points to be won and lost,” he said. “We can still get up there.
“There are a lot of games coming thick and fast. It is a big game on Sunday because we want to get through to the next round of the cup.
“To still be in and around the top of the table we are still in a good position going forward. We are still in the cup and there is a lot to look forward to.”
Cosgrove had scored one goal in his entire career before this season – in an English League Two game for Carlisle in January last year.
However, since netting twice for Aberdeen in a 4-1 win over St Mirren back in October he hasn’t looked back.
“I wouldn’t say I expected a turnaround, but I always knew there was potential there,” he said.
“I’m not a superstitious guy, but there are different fortunes you can get in football. Even the first goal on Wednesday night, those type of goals didn’t fall for me at the start of the season.”
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