Willie Miller: Aberdeen have put too much pressure on Sam Cosgrove, but need to stick with him

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes must retain faith with striker Sam Cosgrove, despite the goal drought.

The team have been too reliant on Cosgrove to supply the goals.

Although Cosgrove has scored 21 times this season, he is suffering a barren patch now.

No one else has been delivering goals and there is too much pressure on Cosgrove to find the back of the net.

It is no surprise that, under that pressure, he is going through a dry patch.

I am sure the goals will come back for Cosgrove because strikers go through these spells.

That over-reliance on Cosgrove is the biggest problem manager Derek McInnes and his team face at the moment.

The 0-0 Scottish Cup draw with Kilmarnock was the fifth successive game Aberdeen have failed to score.

No Aberdeen team has ever gone six games without scoring and that is an unwanted record they will be desperate not to break away to Hamilton tonight.

There is no one else stepping up to the plate to score goals.

Former Motherwell striker Curtis Main was signed last summer but he has not done much, which is disappointing.

Bruce Anderson is also still young.

Midfielders should be expected to pitch in with goals, as well as defenders from set-pieces. You need that spread around the team to take the pressure off one man. If there is that much pressure piled on Cosgrove, it is not surprising he is going through a dry patch.

McInnes has to stick with Cosgrove and hope the striker’s, and Aberdeen’s, fortunes turn round.

Cosgrove has proven he can be a goalscorer and just has to find that touch and confidence again.

If others pitched in with goals it would take the burden off the top scorer and help him find his scoring touch again. However, they are not delivering the goals.

In the Scottish Cup fifth-round tie it appeared Kilmarnock travelled to Pittodrie to secure a replay and they achieved that efficiently.

The problem clearly lies in the inability to score and manager McInnes has to find the formula to fix that.

Whether that is a different formation or trying to get players like Niall McGinn, Matty Kennedy or Ryan Hedges on the score sheet.

McInnes has proven in the past that he can turn situations round. He has never been in this position before, but in a desperate situation, you have to come up with the answers.

A great way to do that is to overcome Kilmarnock in the replay at Rugby Park next Wednesday because a cup run ignites supporters and keeps them hungry for more football.

Despite the goal drought, this can still be a successful season for Aberdeen if they can secure a cup run and finish third in the Premiership. At the moment, through formation and players with belief, they can still turn it round.

That needs to happen quickly because fans are becoming frustrated.

They want to see goals and are not getting that.

However, McInnes is still the man for the job, as he is a manager who gets results and has been very good for the club. He is going through a bad spell at the moment and will know he has to find the answers.

McInnes knows the expectation that comes with Aberdeen and the players should know that expectation as well.

That expectation is not going to go away or change.

McInnes has a lot of credit in the bank, but I can also understand the frustrations of the fans.

I am sure he is equally as frustrated with the situation as they are.

I still believe he can turn it around. In this situation something like a successful cup run can turn seasons around. But it will take someone to score – and the most likely remains Cosgrove.