I have heard more than the odd mention of a Premiership title race being back on since the weekend’s results, but I don’t believe that will be the case for one minute.

I was at the gym yesterday and a guy I know was giving me all the permutations about how Rangers could be right in the hunt if results go a certain way over the next week or two, but I just can’t see it.

Either way, it is a monster weekend of fixtures in the Premiership. The ramifications from these games could be massive for the teams involved, and it’s the biggest weekend so far this season for me.

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At the top, yes, Rangers could go just six points behind Celtic on Saturday night with a win over Hearts, but that is hardly a foregone conclusion. Hearts have only lost once in their last 16 games, and that was to Celtic at Parkhead. And it might have suited Rangers better to be away from home. Their record at Ibrox isn’t great, while they have been in great fettle on the road.

Celtic will probably slip up once or twice more. But so will the rest of the teams chasing them.

Every time Celtic have dropped points this season has been after a midweek game, with the exception of the draw at Fir Park which came a couple of days after the win over Motherwell in the Betfred Cup final.

When they have to raise their game during the week, more often than not for their European fixtures, then they go flat for the next fixture. That could play into Aberdeen’s hands this weekend, but before their fans get too confident, a quick look at Brendan Rodgers’s record against them should temper that. He has eight wins in eight games against Aberdeen, with 20 goals for and just three against.

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Derek McInnes has tried every possible way to beat Celtic. He has sat in, and he has had a go in the Scottish Cup final. For me, that’s the tactic that they need to go with at the weekend. That was the closest they got, and for an hour they really went for it and were right in Celtic’s faces. Aberdeen fans, I think, would rather see their team having a go if they are to lose the game.

It has been levelled at Derek that he tends to overthink it when it comes to these big matches, and I didn’t think that he had to change his tactics so much for the game against Hibs. In the previous four games they had won by scoring loads of goals, and then he changed it to try to match up with Hibs, and it backfired.

Aberdeen should be going into these big games to put their own stamp on the match, the exact same way they do against anyone else, and with their strongest team. They almost have to say to forget they are playing Celtic. That is easier said than done, but they have to believe in themselves and say ‘we are Aberdeen, we are a force in Scottish football’, and don’t overthink the tactical side of the game. Just go and play.

Even if Celtic do slip up, I still fancy them to finish the season strongly. Think about the players that they are missing. Leigh Griffiths, Patrick Roberts and Stuart Armstrong will all be back in the mix soon, Tom Rogic has just played his first game after injury, so they will soon be much stronger. And whenever they are challenged they have generally stepped up to the plate.

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The battle for second is going to be unbelievably interesting though, and this weekend could be a pivotal one in what is such a tight contest.

At the other end, I have always thought that Partick Thistle had enough in their squad to get out of trouble, but we are coming towards the business end of the season, and they are only one point away from the playoff spot. Hamilton also have two games in hand, but they have lost eight of their last 10, and have shipped 10 goals in their last three. Their defending against Rangers was abysmal.

What worries me about Thistle is that they are losing late goals again. I was relegated with St Mirren, and things like that become self-fulfilling prophecies when you are down there struggling.

You spend more time worrying than actually playing the game in front of you, and it can become a massive problem. You can try to be positive, but in the back of your mind, you start to think ‘we can’t afford to lose this game’.

When that creeps in, you end up getting tight, and you don’t want to be the one who makes a mistake to lose the game. That mentality sets in, and it is difficult to shift.

Similarly, St Johnstone will be in bother if they lose to Ross County. They should get a boost from the draw with Celtic on Sunday, but they haven’t won a match since beating Rangers in December, and haven’t won at home since September.

Owen Coyle will have the County players wound up for this one, and I fancy them to get off the bottom of the table with a win.