Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee is confident Aberdeen will push Celtic all the way in the Scottish Premiership title chase.
The transfer deadline day dealings in Scotland have left former Dons manager McGhee convinced Derek McInnes’ team is the only club left in the top flight capable of challenging the Hoops for the championship.
He said: “Aberdeen and Celtic are the only clubs which you could honestly say are stronger now than when the window opened.
“It will be hard for the likes of Dundee United, Caley Thistle and Hamilton to stay with them and I expect they will both pull away.
“Whether Aberdeen can win the league or not remains to be seen, but I expect them to push Celtic all the way.”
McGhee’s belief the Dons are the sole remaining challengers is based on the transfer activity of the other three clubs pursuing Celtic.
He believes United, Inverness and Accies have failed to replace key players while the Dons and the Hoops have built on strong starts to the campaign.
He said: “Aberdeen in particular have really taken the game to Celtic but Dundee United, Caley Thistle and Hamilton Accies deserve great credit for being up there too.
“But January has been tough for those clubs. United have lost two of their best players in Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven to a rival while losing attacker Billy Mckay to Wigan is a blow to Caley Thistle.
“Tony Andreu has left Hamilton to join Alex Neil at Norwich and he was also so important to them with his goals.”
Despite his assertion the runners and riders in the field have been cut to two the Scotland assistant believes the competitive nature at the top of the division has been a welcome breath of fresh air for the Scottish game this season.
He said: “Celtic have strengthened their squad which will make them even bigger favourites from the Scottish Premiership title, but I still don’t believe the championship is a foregone conclusion.
“I haven’t been able to say that in recent years, but the league has been really healthy and competitive this year and that’s something we should all be grateful for.
“We should all want to see the top teams being made to struggle for every point every week and that’s what we are getting.”