Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Jim Goodwin reveals meeting to hammer home to Aberdeen summer signings how much games with Rangers mean to Red Army

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin

Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin has hammered home to his players there is more at stake than just three points when playing Rangers.

Ahead of the Dons trip to Ibrox on Saturday, Goodwin emphasised to his squad how much beating Rangers means to the Red Army.

In a meeting this week, he explained the fans’ emotional connection to the fixture and how much they want a win for bragging rights.

Having rebuilt the squad, with the majority of summer signings new to the Premiership, Goodwin felt he had to clarify the enormity of the fixture.

Goodwin said: “In our group meeting this morning, we made our players aware of what the Rangers fixture means to the fans.

“We’ve got a lot of new players and a lot of boys from outwith Scotland that needed reminded of the importance of this fixture to the fans.

‘There is a lot at stake, a lot on the line, not just three points.

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin during the 2-1 win at Motherwell.

“It’s a significant game for everybody.

“Historically, there is a lot of emotion involved in the fixture anyway, with the supporters.

“There’s a hell of a lot on the line – the bragging rights for the supporters.

“We emphasised the fact that it’s almost going to be like a derby game.”

Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski celebrates making it 1-0 against Motherwell.

‘We want to see where we’re at’

Aberdeen will welcome back on-loan Middlesbrough left-back Hayden Coulson for the Rangers clash.

Coulson was left out of the squad for the 2-1 defeat of Motherwell last Saturday as his wife gave birth on the day of the game.

Buoyed by a three-game winning streak, in-form Aberdeen face a Rangers side under pressure after recent domestic and European results.

Should Aberdeen win at Ibrox, it would move Goodwin’s side to within four points of their second-place hosts.

Goodwin wants to see how close his side, with 11 new signings secured in the summer, are to Rangers on the field.

He said: “From our own point of view, as players and staff, we want to see where we’re at.

“We want to see how far away we are from Rangers.

“Are we capable of going there, a really difficult venue, giving a good account of ourselves and coming away with a positive result?

“If we can go there and get all three points, happy days.

“But if we go and get a point, it’s not the end of the world.”

Struggling Rangers under pressure – but Dons are Goodwin’s focus

There is stark contrast in recent form between the two teams ahead of Saturday’s clash.

Aberdeen have racked up three straight wins, having beat Motherwell (2-1), Hearts (2-0) and Partick Thistle (4-1, Premiers Sports Cup).

Rangers, however, are reeling from a disastrous Champions League campaign that hit another low with a 3-0 loss at Napoli on Wednesday.

The Ibrox club have lost all five of their group games, conceding 19 goals and scoring only once.

With a goal difference of minus 18, with a game against Ajax next week remaining,  Rangers are perilously close to registering the worst ever Champions League performance by any club.

Domestically Rangers were also booed off the Ibrox pitch last weekend after drawing 1-1 with 10-man Livingston.

Goodwin prefers to focus on the positives within his own squad and not Rangers’ problems.

He said: “I try not to get too caught up about the opposition.

“We prepare the same every week, but we know the qualities Rangers have.

“There is no doubt they have had a dip in form. Obviously the Champions League hasn’t gone the way they would have liked. They dropped points to Livingston in the last league game and they wouldn’t have expected that.

“We need to try focus on the good things from Aberdeen’s perspective – we have been playing well, we have won our last three and are scoring a lot of goals.

“Only Celtic have scored more than us in all competitions and they have only conceded less than us as well.

“From our point of view, we are in a good place and I won’t worry too much about Rangers and their predicament.

“Giovanni (van Bronckhorst) doesn’t need me chipping in with my 10 pence-worth.

“It is always a difficult venue, but we are going there with confidence and belief.”

Aberdeen players celebrate with the fans at full-time after the 2-1 win at Motherwell.

Bid for another win on the road

Aberdeen ended a poor run of away form with victory at Motherwell last week.

The Dons’ aim to make it back-to-back wins on the road will be bolstered by the in-form strike partnership of Bojan Miovski and Duk.

Both were on the scoresheet against Motherwell.

Miovski has nine goals this season, with Duk scoring seven.

Aberdeen’s Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes, left, celebrates making it 2-1 against Motherwell with team0mate Bojan Miovski.

Aberdeen, however, are without a win in their last seven league visits to Ibrox, drawing two and losing five.

They have failed to score in six of those games.

Goodwin said:  “We want to be consistent at home and on the road.

“The away record hasn’t been good enough.

“To get a win at a difficult venue like Fir Park, a place where we haven’t done so well, was very pleasing.”

Conversation