Aberdeen have been a side periodically capable of interrupting the stranglehold that the Old Firm have held over Scottish football, and they aren’t about to now let the two Glasgow giants settle back into their cosy duopoly without putting up one hell of a fight.

That’s the determined stance of their winger Niall McGinn, who has his sights set firmly on Saturday’s Celtic Park showdown with Brendan Rodgers’ rampant side after Aberdeen finally got their season off and running at Pittodrie on Saturday.

Derek McInnes’s men got their first win – and first goals – of the league season with a hard-earned victory over a decent Partick Thistle outfit.

McGinn curled a sumptuous opener into the top corner from a free-kick some 25-yards from goal to deflate a visiting side that had started the match in confident fashion, and set his team on their way to what in the end was a nervy - but deserved - three points.

With that irksome monkey now firmly shaken from their backs, McGinn is looking forward to testing Aberdeen’s title credentials against the red-hot champions in Glasgow.

There may be less focus on Aberdeen this season due to the re-emergence of Rangers into the top-flight, but make no mistake, there is a determination in the Granite City to prove that they are not to be written off as challengers for the Premiership crown.

“It was massively important to get the first win,” McGinn said. “The first two league games were solid enough but, on the scoring front, it hadn’t been what we were looking for.

“So we were delighted to get two goals, although we made it a bit nervy towards the end. It was important to get three points, especially going into next week at Celtic Park.

“We’re definitely confident that we can go and cause Celtic problems. Over the past couple of the seasons, especially at Pittodrie, we’ve shown that we’re well capable of beating them.

“They’ve brought in a great manager and are playing some really good stuff, doing well in Europe. So we’re under no illusions over how difficult a task it is going to be, but we’ll be going there confident in our ability.

“I think obviously having Celtic and Rangers in the league, everyone – the media, other teams, other managers, players and fans – will maybe look towards those two clubs as the big rivalry because of their history. But I think we can thrive on that.

“I think we put pressure on ourselves just by playing well and keeping plugging away with wins. Who knows where that can take us come the end of the season.”

There were chances at both ends in this open encounter in which both sides tried to play attractive football. The game was probably a bit more stretched than either manager would like, but it made for entertaining fare.

For all that was to be admired from the creative players in open play though, Aberdeen’s goals owed a lot to the generosity of Alan Archibald’s side.

Just before the half hour, Abdul Osman needlessly lunged in on Graeme Shinnie to concede a free-kick in a dangerous position, failing to heed a warning shot from Peter Pawlett from a similar area that Tomas Cerny had earlier saved.

This time it was McGinn who stepped up, and despite the Czech goalkeeper’s best efforts, there was only one place that the ball was heading as the Northern-Irishman made contact, nestling in the top right-hand corner.

Ryan Edwards probably should have had Thistle ahead before then, but got his lob all wrong when clean through, and there were chances for both sides before Aberdeen struck what looked to be the decisive blow just before the hour.

This time, it was Liam Lindsay who served up the goal on a silver platter for Miles Storey to get off the mark for his new club, but to be fair to the young defender, a great deal of credit must got the industrious Shinnie - who was impressive throughout - for pressuring him into the error.

Storey sauntered through to place the ball calmly past Cerny, and that looked to be that. To make matters worse for the visitors, Sean Welsh was sent off with five minutes remaining as he received two yellow cards within seconds of each other.

The midfielder fouled Wes Burns to pick up the first, and was shown a second by John Beaton for rather foolishly letting the referee know in no uncertain terms what he thought of the decision.

Substitute Chris Erskine remarkably gave them a glimmer of hope though with a thumping strike into the top corner as the clock hit 90 minutes after a clever knock-down from Kris Doolan, and they might even have had an unlikely leveller moments later as Stevie Lawless fired a half-volley on the turn just wide, before a corner for the visitors had goalkeeper Cerny in the opposition area causing all sorts of confusion only for the ball to drop agonisingly wide via the leg of Kenny McLean.

“It was a good goal but it doesn’t mean anything in the end,” said Erskine after the match, who was disappointed to have watched his side fall two behind from the bench.

“I actually thought we were the better team for a lot of the game. We passed the ball well and had a lot of chances in the game, I think that’s what the manager is most disappointed about.

“To come here and create a lot of chances and not take them is the most disappointing thing, but we played well and maybe those chances will go in on another day.

“We can definitely take positives from it.”

ABERDEEN: Lewis; Logan, O’Connor, Reynolds, Considine; Pawlett (Burns, 63’), McLean, Shinnie, McGinn; Storey (Taylor, 63’), Rooney (Stockley, 88’).

Scorers: McGinn (28’), Storey (57’)

Booked: McGinn (65’)

PARTICK THISTLE: Cerny; Gordon, Lindsay, Devine, Booth; Welsh, Osman; Amoo (Doolan, 72’), Edwards (Erskine, 60’), Lawless; Azeez (Pogba, 76’).

Scorers: Erskine (90’)

Booked: Osman (27’), Devine (82’), Welsh (86’)

Sent off: Welsh (86’)

Man of the match: Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen)

Referee: John Beaton

Attendance: 11,049