Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes believes the gap between his side and Celtic is nowhere near as big as the last meeting between the teams suggested.
The Dons were beaten 4-1 at Parkhead in August with late goals from Celtic midfielders Scott Sinclair and Tom Rogic adding some extra gloss to the scoreline.
Celtic have gone from strength to strength since that encounter and would open up a 10-point advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a game in hand should they win at Pittodrie this lunchtime.
The Dons will be eager to bounce back from Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by Hamilton, which ended their six-game winning run, while Celtic enjoyed a 4-0 success at Ross County a day later, despite making eight changes to their line-up.
Reflecting on his side’s last match against Celtic, McInnes said: “I think it was something similar at Dingwall as the scoreline suggests it was a canter for them against Ross County but that wasn’t an easy game for Celtic.
“Against Ross County, it took them to bring on Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair and Nir Bitton to get the job done.
“It shows the strength of Celtic because they have the luxury of making so many changes for such a difficult fixture.
“I think they have a schedule and a squad that allows them to make those changes.
“In our match against them, it was still in the balance when we were 2-1 down and still in the game when Mark Reynolds got sent off harshly and they scored from the penalty and the game ran away from us.
“I still felt at 2-1 down that there was something for us in the game but you can’t complain too much.
“If the game gets stretched, as it did towards the end at Dingwall, then Celtic are the team that can punish you the most.
“Everyone wonders how you can get to them, so it is getting the balance of attacking and defending right and they are a tougher nut to crack than in the last couple of seasons.”
The teams are due to meet again in next month’s Betfred Cup final but McInnes was quick to play down the suggestion that a victory today would give either side a psychological advantage for the match at Hampden on November 27.
He said: “If we lose this one it won’t make us any less confident going into the cup final and if we win it I don’t think it will have too much impact on Celtic going into the final.
“We just have to concentrate on getting back to winning ways and hopeful to start another winning run.
“To do that we will have to play the best team in the league at the moment. Beating them would give any team a real shot of confidence.”
