Aberdeen have to forget about Rangers’ problems and concentrate on their own game at Ibrox on Saturday.
Rangers will face the Dons just days after another heavy Champions League defeat, having lost 3-0 at Napoli on Wednesday.
The Ibrox club were also booed off the pitch at the weekend after drawing 1-1 with Livingston in the Premiership.
However, Rangers’ recent struggles in Europe and domestically should be irrelevant to Aberdeen.
All that should matter to the Dons is that they are in form, scoring goals, looking tight at the back again and are playing with confidence.
If Aberdeen focus on their own game and on maintaining their recent positive form, they can get a win at Ibrox.
Forget about Rangers’s heavy losses in the Champions League. Ignore Rangers being booed off the pitch in their previous two home matches against Livi and Championship Dundee.
If the Dons concentrate on Rangers’s recent frailty, it could be a distraction and see them take their eye off the ball.
I’m sure Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin will have his players completely focused on playing their own game and not banking on facing a struggling Rangers side.
All focus must be on getting the Dons firing on all cylinders so they are the very best they can be when turning up at Ibrox.
The Reds are on a three-game winning streak, up to third in the Premiership table and into the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
That’s not bad shooting for a squad which was completely overhauled and rebuilt during the summer.
Aberdeen must have the confidence and self-belief, they can win at Ibrox – regardless of what Rangers team turns up.
The Reds were very impressive in the 2-1 win at Motherwell to secure a third straight win.
They were aggressive, confident and hunted in packs to close down the opposition.
If they reproduce that intensity, the Dons can get three points at Ibrox.
Aberdeen also have an impressive strike partnership in Bojan Miovski and Duk.
The duo have looked dangerous when playing together and were both on the scoresheet in the win at Motherwell.
Duk has been a revelation recently and is playing very well.
Miovski started his Aberdeen career with a bang and then had a couple of games where it wasn’t clicking the same for him. Some people started saying his early good form was maybe a flash in the pan.
That is nonsense – it is clear Miovski is a quality football player. He has a striker’s instinct and makes great runs inside the box.
Miovski’s goal against Motherwell where he chipped Liam Kelly was superb.
I have been really impressed with Miovski and rate him highly.
Duk has pace, ability and skill and all he needed was a good run in the team.
He is getting that now and has rewarded that faith with a goal in each of the last three games – all wins.
Aberdeen have two dangerous in-form strikers and that is a huge positive ahead of the trip to Ibrox.
Again, the Reds should concentrate on their own self-belief and winning form, instead of focusing on any lack of confidence within Rangers.
That is the key to leaving Ibrox with a win to close the gap on second-placed Rangers to just four points.
Advice is for Barron to sign new deal
My advice to Connor Barron would be to sign a new contract with Aberdeen.
Aberdeen have offered the 20-year-old Pittodrie youth academy graduate a new contract.
Barron’s current contract expires in summer 2024.
He is a grounded player who has his head screwed on.
There is already talk about clubs being interested in Barron, but I think his immediate future for the next few seasons should be at Pittodrie.
That way Barron will continue to develop and grow at Aberdeen.
For such a young player, he has superb game intelligence.
Barron should sign a new deal with Aberdeen, who are a club going in the right direction and geared for success.
He is an exciting talent and I am confident he will eventually move on from Aberdeen in a big transfer.
However, hopefully, that will be in a couple of seasons once he has starred for the Dons for an extended period of time.
Barron has returned to the starting lineup this month having missed the start of the season due to a knee injury.
His worth to the team has been shown in that they have won the three games the midfielder has started.
Banks o’ Dee can bounce back
Hopefully, Banks o’ Dee will quickly bounce back from the devastating blow of being hit with a 24-point deduction due to a player “registration error”.
It is a real setback in the ambitious club’s first season in the Highland League.
League rules state clubs receive a mandatory three-point deduction for every match in which an ineligible player is involved.
The deduction saw Banks o’ Dee drop from sixth in the table to bottom on -1 point with 12 games played.
It is a costly mistake that I’m sure Banks o’ Dee will learn from.
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