Vernon scored twice against St Mirren thanks to Chris Maguire crosses

By Liam McLeod

Aberdeen forward Scott Vernon is hoping that strike partner Chris Maguire will remain at Pittodrie.

The 22-year-old Maguire is free to talk to other clubs and has not yet had contract talks with the Dons as he begins to shine under boss Craig Brown.

And Vernon wants to see that form continue in Aberdeen.

"We want him to stay and hopefully he will do. Everyone is now seeing him for what he is and if he went it would be a big loss," he told BBC Scotland.

Vernon scored the two goals against the Buddies as the Brown regime continued its unbeaten start, with both teed up by the in-form Maguire.

Maguire himself is beginning to find his shooting boots and clubs are keeping tabs on the former Scotland Under-21 international.

Vernon admits that his strike partner is playing his cards close to his chest.

"He won't talk about anything to do with that," he said. "It's not really something we talk about to be honest.

"There's speculation flying around everywhere and there's rumours, so you just have to be professional and carry on as normal."

Vernon grabbed his 12th and 13th goals of a decent first season in Scotland - it is 13 because his strike against Hibernian at Pittodrie has now been credited to him, having originally gone down as a Sol Bamba own goal.

Indeed, Vernon is only two goals away from overtaking Darren Mackie and Robbie Winters as the most potent Aberdeen marksman in a decade, since Arild Stavrum hit 17 in season 2000/01.

Maguire is out of contract with Aberdeen in the summer

The 27-year-old Mancunian admits that, with three of their next four fixtures against Celtic - one of which is a Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final, big tests for the rejuvenated squad lie ahead.

That is especially so when they return to the scene of the record-breaking 9-0 reverse at Celtic Park, next Saturday.

"It's a really tough spell that we're coming into where we'll need lots of fit players," added Vernon.

"Last time we played them, we got a right drubbing, so we'll be looking to do a lot better than we did that day.

"But it's a period we're going to be looking forward to because out confidence is up.

"I love scoring goals and I'll always aim to do that when I play for Aberdeen, so it would be nice to get one or two in Glasgow on our trips there."

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