Aberdeen winger Niall McGinn wants to knock Rangers out of their stride as the Dons bid to make amends for their worst result of the season on Wednesday.
The Dons suffered a 5-0 mauling by Steven Gerrard’s side at Ibrox in what was Derek McInnes’ heaviest defeat in 321 games in charge of the club.
But McGinn, who scored the club’s 500th goal of McInnes’s reign in the 2-1 win against St Mirren on Saturday, is targeting another milestone landmark of his own as he prepares to make his 300th appearance for the club against the Gers.
He said: “Rangers are coming to town and they are in good form. They will have periods where they have possession but we have to make it hostile for them and take our chances.
“We feel we are in good form but we’ll dust ourselves down and look forward to Wednesday.
“It was a tough day for everyone last time at Ibrox. They were ruthless. The bottom line is we have to learn from that defeat and we have reacted in the right way. We had a bad defeat against Celtic but reacted with three wins on the bounce.
“Celtic and Rangers have been brilliant this season. They are playing well and scoring goals. We want to be best of the rest and keep within distance.
“We have to concentrate on ourselves but we know we have to bring a strong performance and let them know they are in a game.
“They have the cup final at the weekend too so we want to break their stride.”
On his 300th appearance on Wednesday, McGinn added: “It’s a nice milestone to hit but if I’m playing it will obviously be sweeter if we win the game.”
McGinn was delighted to play his part in Saturday’s 2-1 win by scoring the 500th goal, six years after he scored the first for the Dons boss against Kilmarnock. Dons captain Joe Lewis also made the goal mean more by making a penalty save to ensure his side claimed all three points.
McGinn added: “(McInnes) has been massive for me. Craig Brown brought me here and helped me get my career back on track but since the manager came in I’ve played in different positions and really enjoyed my time here. Once you get that faith in you from the manager it makes things a lot easier.”