Aberdeen have been dealt a major blow after top scorer Sam Cosgrove was ruled out of their Europa League showdown with Rijeka. But Pittodrie boss Derek McInnes insists his Dons still have enough firepower to overturn their 2-0 first-leg deficit. The Reds crashed to defeat in Croatia last Thursday but will not be able to rely upon Cosgrove, who has already found the back of the net eight times in just six appearances so far this season. The 22-year-old sat out Sunday’s surprise defeat at St Mirren with a tight hamstring and has failed to recover in time for Thursday’s Rijeka return. McInnes said: “Sam is out unfortunately and so is Craig Bryson. “But as important a player as Sam is, we’ve shown we can get to a level of performance without key players in the past. “We’ve got enough attacking threat in the team that we shouldn’t be solely reliant on Sam. We hope to show that tomorrow night.” The Dons have previous with the Croatians having dumped them out of the competition in 2015, but it was the hosts who last week claimed the upper hand as McInnes’ team paid the price for a lack of cutting edge. However, the Aberdeen boss believes his side can create one of the great Pittodrie nights by overturning Rijeka’s lead and securing progress to the play-off round. He said: “That’s the intention. We would love to make this a game to be remembered. “I’m certainly not looking at this as an impossible task. “It’s half-time in the tie. We’ve come back from Croatia kicking ourselves that we’ve allowed it to get to 2-0. “Having watched it back, the game was uneventful and for the majority of it a lot of our work was good. But we’ll certainly have to carry more of an attacking threat. “There’s no point going over last week’s game. It’s finished and we now know what needs to be done. “It’s important we try to win both halves. It’s not about being Gung-ho and negligent but about being measured and having the belief that we can replicate some of our earlier home performances. “But we’ve got it all to do. It’s up to us to change the course of events.” Topics Derek McInnes, UEFA Europa League, Aberdeen McInnes pleased as Aberdeen make European progress Derek McInnes eyeing Europa League transfer boost Aberdeen down but certainly not out – McInnes Mountain to climb for Aberdeen after first-leg defeat Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties in Istanbul to win Super Cup Female referee Frappart makes history by taking charge of men’s Super Cup A case of mistaken identity for Jorginho? Macclesfield winding-up petition is adjourned Rangers on verge of signing Leicester midfielder Andy King on loan Neymar has chosen his preferred destination between Barcelona and Real Madrid – but it’s not that simple Jurgen Klopp decided to take a massive gamble in the transfer window – here’s why Liverpool vs Chelsea live stream: how to watch the UEFA Super Cup final Juventus have made contact with Christian Eriksen – but there’s some good news for Tottenham 7 players who were persistently linked with Premier League moves… but never came