FOR me, Aberdeen have been a wee bit like Celtic this season.

What I mean by that is that you know they are a good team and you are just waiting for them to fire. Both have certainly fired against Ross County since Jim McIntyre and I took charge, having been the only clubs to really give us a going over, in a 3-0 defeat at Pittodrie in our second game and Celtic's 5-0 win at Dingwall two weeks ago.

Aberdeen are our visitors in the SPFL Premiership tomorrow night and they are again showing signs of finding their form. Jim and I took in their 1-0 League Cup quarter-final win against Hamilton Accies in midweek. They were excellent and only Accies goalkeeper Michael stopped them going through by a bigger margin than that provided by Adam Rooney's first-half header.

They have started winning games when they are not playing well again and when they do play well they can be really dangerous. We are going to have to be at our very best to take anything from tomorrow night's match.

With no disrespect to anyone else, Aberdeen and Celtic are the best teams in the league. Aberdeen will absolutely finish second this season, not just because of the players they have, but also because of the size of club they are. There is an expectation there for them to be finishing in that kind of position. They are a well-run club with a huge support and I know Derek McInnes and his assistant Tony Docherty feel privileged to be working there. I have so many links to Aberdeen, not just because I played for them. I played alongside Derek and Barry Robson at Dundee United and when I became assistant manager I worked with Tony, and had David Goodwillie as a player.

I'm looking forward to the game and I think it's one we can take something from, but we are going to have to be at our best.

I don't think we did ourselves justice in the Pittodrie game, when Jim and I were just in the door. I am expecting a much better showing from Ross County. We are at home, and with our boys coming off a decent performance against St Mirren, I am expecting us to give Aberdeen a real challenge.

I was impressed with our players' reaction against St Mirren, after Celtic gave us such a going over. I was wondering whether the players would fall back into old habits and whether the confidence levels would dip back to when we just took over. It was a big one for us, getting something in Paisley, and the fact we put in a good performance.

We were unlucky not to be two goals up, but we had to get something and we did that. It showed you the boys have a bit of steel and character about them and I am expecting them to carry that on into the Aberdeen match.

Aberdeen will also have their eye on three points. It quite suits them to play away from home, with the counter-attacking system they have. But apart from the Celtic match we are unbeaten in four so I can see some signs of consistency and everything is set up for a good game.

Getting a goal wrongly disallowed in Paisley when Michael Gardyne was a yard onside, and Yoann Arquin two yards onside, was a big blow for us. It would have given us a two-goal lead, and if we had held on that would have made it a three-way tie at the bottom of the league with us, St Mirren and Motherwell all on seven points last Saturday night.

The whole feeling around the club would have been different as we would have been in among it, not still isolated on five points. But we have taken it on the chin and are still hanging on, still on the hunt for the win that can take us off the bottom.

SOMEHOW, I always thought last night's League Cup draw was going to produce an Old Firm semi-final and a New Firm semi-final. And my prediction now is for an Aberdeen-Celtic final. I just don't think Rangers are ready for this yet. I heard Charlie Nicholas saying he felt Rangers were just four players away from being on a par with Celtic, but I'm not so sure about that, having seen what they were like against us.

I feel Celtic are in a better place on the park as well as financially. Rangers are winning games at a certain level and it is looking like they and Hearts are going to battle it out for the Championship title, but I am not so sure they are ready to go and win an Old Firm game.

If I was a Rangers official I would rather be facing Aberdeen or Dundee United. But it will at least tell Rangers how far away they are from being competitive against Celtic, who they will hope to face in the Premiership next term.