Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin has challenged his rebuilt side to chase down Rangers in the Premiership table.
Goodwin oversaw an extensive summer transfer window rebuild with 11 players signed at a cost in excess of £1.5 million in transfer fees.
That new-look team will move level on points with second placed Rangers if they beat the Ibrox outfit at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Should Aberdeen win by more than one goal they will leapfrog Gers to go clear in second on goal difference.
Aberdeen are currently three points and a goal behind the Ibrox club.
That gap should have been slashed to just a point at the weekend as Aberdeen were leading at Ross County with seconds remaining.
However the Staggies netted five minutes into injury time to draw 1-1 and deny the Reds three points.
Goodwin has urged the Reds to put the disappointment of Dingwall behind them to grab the chance to jump to second in the Premiership.
He said: “We can close the gap on Rangers and that is what we aim to do.
“On Saturday we moved up a place to third in the table, albeit on goal difference.
“It makes the game against Rangers all the more exciting.
“It is a cruel game sometimes but we just had to lick our wounds after Ross County.
“We have to react in the appropriate manner for what will be a massive game against Rangers.
“There are plenty of positives to take from the performance against Ross County that far outweigh the negatives.”
Pittodrie win drought against ‘Gers
Aberdeen have not beaten Rangers at Pittodrie since September 26, 2016.
Midfielder James Maddison, on loan from Norwich City, netted a sensational free-kick in injury time to seal the win.
Maddison is now an English Premier League star with Leicester City following a £20 million transfer from Norwich in 2018.
Goodwin aims to end that six year Pittodrie win drought against Rangers on Saturday.
After the initial shock of conceding so late on to Ross County the Reds boss was able to analyse the performance.
He is confident the Reds, who finished 10th in the Premiership last season, are now a strong team that is making progress.
And he has challenged the Reds to show that against Rangers in the high noon showdown.
Goodwin said: “There has been progress.
“I try not to over analyse games straight after because there is a lot of emotion involved.
“I was a little bit down after the Ross County game.
“But when I reflected on it and watched the game back there were lots of positive performances in there.
“Collectively we looked a good team for large periods.
“I thought we played some really good football from back to front.”
Barron and Roberts both ruled out
The Dons will be without midfielder Connor Barron and winger Callum Roberts for the clash with Rangers.
Barron has yet to feature this campaign having suffered a knee injury during a pre-season friendly.
He is expected to return to action after the international break.
Roberts suffered a hamstring the injury in his second game since signing from Notts County.
Call for Dons to be more clinical
Aberdeen will face a Rangers side reeling from a 4-0 humiliation at the hands of defending Premiership champions Celtic.
The Ibrox club are also in Champions League group stage action on Wednesday night when facing Ajax away in Amsterdam.
Goodwin was frustrated at Aberdeen’s lack of cutting edge in attack in Dingwall, Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes’ sensational goal apart.
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Duk opens the scoring yesterday in Dingwall.#StandFree | #cinchPrem pic.twitter.com/CEPD6EQIe6
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) September 4, 2022
He has warned the Reds must be more clinical in front of goal against Rangers.
Goodwin said: “When you are on top you need to capitalise on that and you need to score.
“We didn’t do that against Ross County.
“There were moments in that game when we got to the 18 yard line but were a bit slack with our passing and link-up play.
“We just weren’t quite as crisp as we needed to be.
“If we had been on those three or four occasions it might have been different.”
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