Ebbsfleet striker Aaron Cosgrave is looking to the game’s top strikers for inspiration.
The Fleet forward netted the winner against Chesham last weekend in National League South but only has two goals to his name this season.
Aaron Cosgrave is a keen student of the game’s leading marksmen. Picture: Ed Miller/EUFC
However, Cosgrave believes it’s only a matter of time before the Fleet frontline start to fire on all cylinders and admitted even players like Erling Haaland miss chances.
“We hit the back of the net in training, we’ve got good standards,” said Cosgrave.
“When we get the chances, it’s just taking them - maybe we’re snatching at things or maybe I’m snatching at things.
“I can only speak for myself because you’re feeling a little bit of the pressure of not scoring as many as you should have by now.
“But the key to it is just to keep a calm head and the goals will come. If you look at the top strikers, they all miss chances.
“But the thing that separates them is they keep a cool head for the next one and the next one. Like Haaland, you can see how many chances he misses, but he’ll end up scoring a hat-trick so that's the key.”
Ebbsfleet’s forward line of Cosgrave, Dominic Samuel, Kwesi Appiah and Josh Coley possesses plenty of talent.
Read more: ‘We weren’t quite at our levels’
But they’ve all found goals hard to come by so far this season although, with 18 different scorers in all competitions, it’s not proving too big an issue at the moment.
“I think that’s credit to the team as well,” reflected Cosgrave. “You can see that goals come from all over the pitch, not just the strikers.
“All the strikers believe that they should be doing better - all four of us, we all think it, we all know it.
“We work hard in training and finishing, you know, good habits that hit in the back of the net.
“All of us haven’t scored as many as we would like but we’ve just got to keep plugging away. Hopefully, we can take that into games. There’s still a long way of the season to go, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Erling Haaland, left, is an inspiration to Aaron Cosgrave. Picture: Barry Goodwin
Whether he’s scoring or not, one constant for Cosgrave will always be his work-rate.
Few strikers put in as much work off the ball as the Fleet striker.
“That’s part of my game,” stated Cosgrave. “I think without that, it’s not who I am.
“Every time I step onto the pitch, I’m 100 per cent. There’s no 50 per cent, there’s no 80 per cent, I’m always at 100 per cent.
“Without the running, I wouldn’t be the same type of player. I know some people might just look at the goals and think, as a striker, he’s not scoring, but I feel like I do a lot more for the team than just scoring goals.
“I feel like my running helps us win the ball back, helps us get up the pitch more, gives us an outlet when we haven’t really got anything.
“I think I get balls that probably someone else wouldn’t get and I want to continue to play like that. Hopefully, more and more goals come.”
Cosgrave joined the Fleet initially on loan from FC Halifax before making the switch permanent last season.
No stranger to Kent football having also had a spell on loan at Dover, Cosgrave feels right at home at Stonebridge Road.
“That’s the part of why I stayed here as well for this season, regardless of us getting relegated, because it really feels at home to me,” explained Cosgrave.
“The fans have really taken to me. The whole squad, just everything about it, it feels at home.
“I think this is probably the longest I’ve been at a club and playing, so it definitely has a special place in my heart.”