THE admission that Aberdeen are capable of going the distance this season is about as good as it gets from Pittodrie.

Whilst the approach of the Hibernian manager, Alan Stubbs, has been to roll the occasional grenade along the M8 towards Ibrox as the joust for the Ladbrokes Championship heats up, Derek McInnes has his players as well-drilled in their public utterances as their training routines in the division above.

One game at a time. The next match is the most important. We will get as many points as we can and see where it takes us.

It is all as dry and unappetising as yesterday’s turkey. The fact remains, though, that the Dons can go top of the Premiership by two points, albeit having played two games more than Celtic, by beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle at home this afternoon.

That should be something to shout about, particularly when they looked dead and buried following a dreadful run of five league games without a win over September and October. Their form, of late, has been hugely encouraging.

They played well in winning on the road at Dundee at Kilmarnock. In their last home game against Hearts, they showed an ability to stand up to a team determined to impose themselves physically and found a way to win despite being dragged into a war of attrition.

No-one up there is going to admit that they think they might have half-a-chance of snatching the title from Celtic, but Paul Quinn has detailed the level of belief engendered by what has been an excellent response to a mid-season crisis and it hints at intentions of still being in the shake-up come April and May.

“We believe the players we have and the quality we have in all areas can go the distance in the season and put on a performance every week,” he stated.

Certainly, Quinn believes the side has emerged stronger from that awful run earlier in the campaign. Whether it is strong enough to win a title against all odds is another thing altogether, but the former Motherwell and defender believes their best attempts will be built on solid foundations.

“We are more experienced and have learned a lot about ourselves and other teams,” he said.

"We know we can be fluent in terms of creating and scoring goals, but we know we can be punished if we take our eye off the ball.

"It was a learning period for everyone concerned as there were a few bad results and a few bad performances individually as well as collectively.

"We have come through it for the better, but we can't get carried away.

“We had 15 or 16 players on top of their form at the start of the season and then it seemed that we all took a dip at the same time.

“We have learned from it and we need to turn those negatives into positives. We addressed situations, sorted a few things out and we worked harder at things that let us down.

“We have conceded one goal in recent games and we are on a good run. We’ve forgotten about October and we want to take things into the New Year and see if we can beat our points tally from last year.

"We are pressing teams effectively and going all the way now in matches and I think that is giving the guys who have got quality to play the way they can, create and score goals.

“As far as Celtic are concerned, they will take care of themselves and we will take care of ourselves.

“It is so important that we concentrate on the now. There have been teams in other leagues who have looked too far ahead and that is when you get caught out.”

Quinn was back in the starting line-up for last weekend’s 4-0 win at Rugby Park, but he has been in and out of the side for one reason or another over the course of the campaign. Aberdeen do have competition for places, of course, and that has been heightened this week with the return of Mark Reynolds and Barry Robson to training after injury.

Quinn has no complaints about his lot. Buying into the concept that the team is more important than the individual is a key tenet within McInnes’ philosophy.

“I think it helps we are part of a great club with a good squad that wants to achieve something,” he said. “What that is we don’t know, but we just get our heads down and strive towards it.

“As soon as one selfish player or one person tries to veer off the path, that could put the cat amongst the pigeons.

"We need to keep the momentum going, but the manager is doing well as he has some big characters to deal with and people who want to play.

"He also has to get younger players to understand it's all about timing fitting them in.

"It must be an absolute nightmare for a manager with a big squad, but the one thing we have got is togetherness and the right attitude. No matter what 11 players are played, the other eight, nine or 10 are behind them.

"I've played in dressing rooms where some players have the ‘I'm not playing’ type of attitude, but it's not like that here.

"That's why when we do rotate the side for whatever reason, the level of performance sometimes improves and certainly doesn't drop.

“You see the way the boys celebrated with the subs who came on and set up goals against Kilmarnock last weekend. They might be frustrated, but they got on and they played their part.”

Surely their hearts must have skipped a beat when they got into the dressing room after that win and heard Celtic had lost at home to Motherwell, though. Don’t they realise that fans of most clubs in Scotland are imploring them to maintain this title challenge and make an intriguing season all the more exciting?

“It is easy to get sooked into in that,” said Quinn. “We want other supporters and the media to say we are a good side, but, for that to happen, we need to win matches on a Saturday.”