ABERDEEN moved to within eight points of Celtic with their 3-0 win over Hamilton Accies following the champions’ 1-0 setback at Kilmarnock.
The Dons’ victory also pushed them six points clear of third-placed Rangers who crashed 2-1 at home to Neil Lennon’s Hibs, the second time the Irishman has seen his side win at Ibrox this season.
The champions head for Pittodrie at the end of the month and Andy Considine, scorer of two goals at the weekend, believes they can add to the Hoops’ woes.
He said: “When you look at Celtic’s result against Kilmarnock, it is achievable to challenge.
“They can turn it on when they come up here and you see it when they come and play us and we go and play them that they do step up their game.
“It’s just the way football is and we’ve got to overcome that. Hopefully, we’ll get the result in three weeks’ time.”
Considine added: “When it comes to other teams, we’re not blowing them away, but we’re scoring goals and clinical and playing good football.
“It’s vital when we do come up against Celtic and Rangers (sic) we treat them exactly the same.
“I know the games are hyped up to be huge games which they are.
“But it’s frustrating to not get results against them because I’ve felt there are times when we’ve played football and we’ve had chances.
“We’ve got a great squad. The manager has assembled really well since we lost a few faces.
“Obviously, Niall McGinn coming back helped. I can imagine it would have been tough for the manager after losing so many boys to get a good squad together.
“But he’s definitely done that. We lost guys who were literally the spine of the team. It got ripped out.
“The manager has recruited extremely well and the strength in depth we have is fantastic.”
The weekend’s results have clearly given Aberdeen a big boost. For Celtic they will be licking their wounds and counting the cost of their unhappy experience on the artificial surface at Kilmarnock. They have that eight point cushion over the Dons so won’t be too concerned about the league table.
Rangers however will have the frustration of realising that they have recently taken 9 points from 9 from Aberdeen yet have quite remarkably seem the Dons move away from them in second place to establish a six point gap.
Fourth place Hibs, encouraged by yet another win at Ibrox under Neil Lennon’s guidance, are now only two points behind the Ibrox side.
Rangers have a game in hand over the other sides, an away trip to inform Patrick Thistle who gave Celtic a scare before picking up 4 points on the road.
The Hibs manager Neil Lennon is the special guest on the CQN Podcast which is out now – link below.
Lennon discusses his early life in Lurgan, signing for Manchester City and then Crewe, before Martin O’Neill entered his life when he took him to Filbert Street in 1996. His time under O’Neill at Leicester and then Celtic is covered extensively, as is his Celtic Park managerial career, which takes in the famous victory against Barcelona in 2012.
