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Paul Third: Dons bid to record first win at Parkhead for 12 years

Aberdeen secured a dramatic early season victory over Celtic at Pittodrie last year
Aberdeen secured a dramatic early season victory over Celtic at Pittodrie last year

Aberdeen make their latest trip to Parkhead this weekend bidding to record an away win at Celtic in the league for the first time in 12 years.

It was 2004 when the Dons last took all three points with Aberdeen having lost all 22 of their subsequent league games which have followed.

Add in the fact they will be facing a Celtic team in buoyant mood after qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League and it is clear Derek McInnes and his players are facing a sizeable task.

But it feels different this time. Why? The Dons have been an afterthought in the eyes of many.

Rangers in the Scottish Premiership which means it will be either the blue half or the green half of Glasgow which will be celebrating winning the league championship come May.

Draping the league title in the red of Aberdeen? Aye right.

That’s what the pundits say anyway.

The common consensus is that the last couple of years were Aberdeen’s best chance of upsetting the established order. In Ronny Deila they had a man with big ideals but who couldn’t get the best out of his team for some reason.

The arrival of Brendan Rodgers has made the task more difficult and many believe Aberdeen will not keep up.

I don’t go along with that.

In fact here is a sentence I thought I would never write: Rangers’ presence in the top flight is good for the Dons.

I’m not one of those who go along with the theory we have real competition now Rangers are on the scene to challenge the Hoops. For starters it is hugely disrespectful to Aberdeen’s consistency of the past two years. They have posted a real and genuine threat when no other club could.

But what Rangers in the Scottish Premiership does do is put an extra bit of pressure on Celtic. Every week the focus is on Rodgers and Mark Warburton. Aberdeen have barely warranted a mention.

Derek McInnes is rightly proud of what he has done in his time at Pittodrie but I wonder if ignorance is bliss for him when it comes to the title race. After all, every week last season he faced questions about challenging Celtic as if it was his sole responsibility.

It has all changed thanks to Rangers’ promotion.

Regardless of where you stand on the Rangers new club/old club debate, their place in the top flight has raised the stakes and the first meeting of the clubs next month will dominate the headlines for days before and after.

Aberdeen? They’re regarded as being the best of the rest but not good enough.

Dons supporters should not be miffed. They should revel in the fact all eyes are elsewhere. Focus on what they are doing and let their rivals keep slugging away. While ‘the big two’ go toe to toe the Dons will work away in the shadows.

They can do so with confidence and expectancy, regardless of the outcome of this weekend’s game at Parkhead. The absence of Ryan Jack and Jonny Hayes has made this game even tougher but it is not mission impossible.

Aberdeen have recruited well in the summer and may yet add another new face before the window closes on Wednesday.

It’s too early to say whether they are stronger than last season just yet but they have certainly added extra dimensions to their attack and once the manager works out which permutations work best I expect the Reds to motor along nicely.

For now though, just hang in there and let Celtic worry about Rangers and vice-versa.

Aberdeen need only worry about themselves.

As Scott Brown, the Celtic captain, quipped after the Dons beat his side at Pittodrie in the first game last season – the title is handed out in May, not August.