Former Aberdeen defender Brian Irvine believes there could be more twists and turns left in the Scottish Premiership title race.
Celtic already appear to have one hand on the trophy after accumulating an eight-point lead over the Dons with five matches remaining.
But Irvine believes the Dons can keep their slim hopes of a first championship win since 1985 alive by winning their opening two post-split fixtures against St Johnstone and Motherwell before their showdown against Celtic on May 8.
He said: “I know it is a cliche but Aberdeen just have to take it one game at a time.
“The results last weekend when Aberdeen lost at Hearts and Celtic defeated Motherwell transformed the situation.
“A lot can happen over the next two games before the Celtic one. The players will know they have to focus on getting results against St Johnstone and Motherwell and then see what the situation is then.
“They may be in a scenario where they are going into that Celtic game knowing they have to avoid defeat to prevent Celtic winning the league.
“But that may not be the case. We saw how quickly things can change after the Hearts game as there was a six-point swing when Celtic beat Motherwell.
“But there could just as easily be a six-point swing in Aberdeen’s favour in the next round of fixtures.”
If both teams win their next two fixtures, Celtic will have the chance to clinch the title with a win against the Dons at Parkhead next month.
Irvine knows what it is like to be involved in a match of that enormity, having been a member of Alex Smith’s Aberdeen that lost the league title at Ibrox with a 2-0 defeat by Rangers on the final day of the season in 1991.
Irvine added: “It was obviously disappointing to lose that last-day decider.
“I didn’t play as I required a groin operation at the end of the season and was left out of the last couple of games.
“I was sat on the bench watching as a supporter.
“It was a difficult one to watch. Rangers got into the lead and won the game.
“There were a lot of nerves before the game for both teams as both were in with a chance of winning the title.
“I always felt whoever scored first would go on and win, so if Aberdeen had gone ahead it may have been a different story.
“Mark Hateley got the goal that calmed Rangers down. It was a real disappointment.”
