THE old cliché about "just concentrating on the league" rings true now for Aberdeen.
A campaign that started full of promise amid dreams of adding further silverware following last year's League Cup success has faltered in recent times. Knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Dundee and their defence of the League Cup ended by Dundee United at Hampden on Saturday, Derek McInnes and his players now have no option but to try to do all they can to improve their league position.
A run of eight successive victories without conceding a goal sparked talk of Aberdeen launching a genuine championship challenge to Celtic but back-to-back draws have tempered some of the excitement that was building in the north-east at the prospect of a first league title in exactly 30 years. Celtic again have the upper hand but there is hope that their congested fixture card - as they continue to compete on four fronts - will eventually take its toll, allowing Aberdeen to benefit. A win against Ross County on Saturday would allow them to draw level at the top of the SPFL Premiership on points, albeit Celtic - who are in Scottish Cup action - would still have two games in hand. All Aberdeen can do is try to get the points on board and throw down the gauntlet to the champions to do likewise.
"We have dropped out of both cup competitions and our sole focus is the league," said defender Mark Reynolds. "We will go out and try to get three points on Saturday and then just try and take things from there. We have to make sure the season doesn't fizzle out.
"We just need to push all the way in the league. There are three or four teams who are really pushing hard and picking up maximum points and I think it could go down to the very end. Hopefully, it will be an interesting title run-in and I am sure teams will take points off each other, especially the teams in that top four or five.
"We can only do our best and hopefully we can get a run going like we did over Christmas. We need to take as many points as we can and we will see where that takes us up to the split. If it is still close come the split then it should be a very interesting last five games."
Celtic, having beaten Rangers in the other League Cup semi-final, also have a Europa League tie against Internazionale looming this month. Reynolds hoped their heavy schedule could prove a distraction with Aberdeen having only league games to concern them.
"I think it ultimately can help us, especially [compared to] Celtic because they also have European games," he added. "They will feel they have a strong enough squad and players to do something in that competition but also do well domestically and in the cups and things could start to take their strain in terms of how good your players are and how strong your squad is. We, like we always do, just need to take care of our own business and try to win our own games and keep up the pressure on other teams."
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