DEREK McInnes has backed Greg Stewart to overcome a disappointing season and thrust himself into the heart of Aberdeen’s surge for success.

Despite racking up almost 30 appearances this season the man on loan from Birmingham City has found consistency, goals and regular starts troublesome commodities to come by.

With around 50 per cent of his appearances coming from the bench and with just three strikes to his name, the 28-year-old has endured a frustrating time at Pittodrie while attempting to rekindle the form he showed at Dundee that earned him a switch to St Andrew’s almost two years ago.

However, with two starts and two goals going into yesterday’s match with Hearts, McInnes has high hopes that Stewart’s form will continue to shine through in their push for Scottish Cup glory and second place in the Premiership.

“It’s been a frustrating time for him and us. He probably expected more. Greg is quite hard on himself and he has been working extremely hard to be part of it,” said the Aberdeen manager.

“But in Greg’s defence, he came – like a lot of our signings – from somewhere he’d not played a lot of football for a while. I also saw it in Stevie May and Gary Mackay-Steven, they have come in from not having played a lot and Greg was one who had to make that adjustment from expecting to play week in week out at Dundee to not playing. You can understand that problem. But we are obviously at a club where we don’t really have the time to wait because we have to keep winning games.

“Greg has had good competition with us to challenge him for a starting position. But this is the business end of the season and for all that has happened before – and I keep telling the players it doesn’t matter what’s happened before – it’s what happens now and what they deliver now.

“There are six league games to go and hopefully two Scottish Cup games. Greg has certainly played his part and has been bright in the last two games and has that confident swagger that we all remember at Dundee.

“I have wanted to work with Greg for a long time and tried a couple of times to sign him until we got him on loan. People always remember how you finish a season more than how you start one and Greg could be a case in point – and so could we.

“Hopefully we can have a strong end to the campaign and if Greg is at the heart of that, brilliant.”

It is a sentiment naturally echoed by the player himself who watched on longingly from a distance last year as Aberdeen, who had enquired after his services prior to his departure south, graced the Hampden turf in the Scottish Cup final. Stewart was on the periphery of the Birmingham team and was an interested viewer as McInnes; side lost 1-0 at the hands of Celtic.

Having watched that game with an element of frustration, he says it is time for him to make his mark.

He said: “I watched them last year in the Cup final and they were really unlucky. We want to try and win it this time and with the squad we have got we feel that we can go and do that.

“I have never played there. I got to the quarters with Dundee where we played Rangers but we got well beaten that day. I am looking forward to it. When I was with Cowdenbeath we were in the Championship three of the four years so I didn’t even get to play there against Queen’s Park. As a young boy I wanted to play at the national stadium so I will be like a little kid again.

“I actually spoke to Derek the summer I went to Birmingham. We spoke once just to see how things were and how things were going and they weren’t going great as I had had three managers and a lot of ins and outs. Derek always made me feel wanted which, when you are a player, is always nice. When I knew I was coming to Aberdeen I was really looking forward to it but it has just been one of those seasons, a wee bit frustrating personally. But I just want to forget about it and I have until the end of the season to turn things around.

“It is really important for me to have a strong finish to the season. I have been in and out of the team and that has been frustrating but there is a big squad with a lot of good players so when you get your chance you need to take it. Prob-ably I have not taken it as well as I have wanted to in the past but I just need to forget about that. I have played the last two games and felt I have done well. I just want to keep pushing on and finish strong.”