Dundee United v Aberdeen: Russell determined to make striking change to his side's form

Saturday 20 October 2012

JOHNNY RUSSELL is a casualty of his growing reputation.

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The Dundee United striker has filled the void left by David Goodwillie with such a dependable scoring record it was assumed he would be just as successful when that vacancy grew wider with the injury to Jon Daly. Instead, Russell has been in danger of slipping between the cracks.

His prowess last season had led to a call up to the Scotland squad that flew out to the United States in May. His reputation remained intact as he did not play in that humbling 5-1 defeat but his form has since waned, with the United striker having now gone without a goal in the league since the 3-0 defeat of Dundee two months ago.It will likely have felt even longer for Russell. The pressure on the 22-year-old has been lifted somewhat by the return of Daly but he remains acutely aware that he still shoulders most of the responsibility of getting the goals for his side. His own loss of form has been reflected by his side, who have gone into today's match with Aberdeen without a win in their last five league matches.Having been denied a chance to turn that form around against Motherwell two weeks ago after a power failure – or saved depending on how optimistic you are willing to be – a resurgent Aberdeen side have grown in stature. Yet Russell will take on the challenge manfully."It has been really frustrating that I haven't scored recently. But it isn't just me," said Russell, whose side are still without Gary Mackay-Steven and Gregory Vignal, who is still building his fitness. "It's the whole team and that is something we really need to work on. But being a striker, people look to me to score goals and I haven't been doing that so it's something I'm determined to change."I always put pressure on myself to score anyway and if I'm not doing that then I am not really doing my job properly. The results we have had recently have dented our confidence a bit but hopefully we can turn that around."Aberdeen know the feeling; a discomfiting campaign last season having been followed by a surge up to third in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table this time around, their latest win coming against Kilmarnock.That game brought Scott Vernon his first league goal of the season and it has emboldened the Aberdeen striker ahead of the trip to Tannadice today. "That goal meant a lot to me because you always feel a bit of pressure as a striker when you are not scoring often enough," he said."The good thing is that the manager showed a lot of faith by keeping me in the team when others in his position might have left me out. He gave me the chance to do what I wanted which was to be left in there to prove what I can do and hopefully I can kick on from here and get a few more now. "The pattern of my time at Pittodrie is that goals do often come in bursts and once you get one you can go five or six games hitting the target which will hopefully be the case now."Aberdeen will not be helped by injuries to Ryan Jack and Gary Naysmith, although spry winger Ryan Fraser will be given time to prove his fitness after training for the first time yesterday following a thigh problem.

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Dundee United v Aberdeen: Russell determined to make striking change to his side's form

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