Aberdeen defender Shay Logan insists the Dons still have plenty to play for in the Scottish Premiership, despite falling 10 points behind leaders Celtic.
After successive 1-0 defeats by Hamilton and Celtic, Derek McInnes’ Reds will be eager to return to winning ways when they take on Partick Thistle at Firhill tonight.
A victory would move the Dons into the second spot currently occupied by Rangers, who travel to Dingwall to face Ross County on Sunday.
The Dons hopes of pushing Celtic for the title were dented by last weekend’s 1-0 l defeat by the Hoops at Pittodrie but Logan says they remain undeterred by the setback.
He said: “You never count yourself out of the title race but if we can’t do that then we want to finish in second spot.
“We want to get as high up in the league as possible. If Celtic are going to win the league then we want to finish second.
“We know there are some good teams above and around about us with Hearts, Rangers and St Johnstone and we need some good wins to keep us in the position that we are in.
“It is very tight from second to eighth position and teams will be pushing for the top six, so it is a competitive league.”
The Dons have finished runners-up to Celtic in the past two seasons and Logan feels they can claim another top two spot this season, despite having an inferior budget to rivals Rangers.
He added: “A lot of people would say finishing above Rangers is our aim but we don’t think like that as we want to go for the number one spot.
“It would be a massive achievement to finish above Rangers as the budget they have is a lot higher than ours.
“If we can finish second and above Rangers we will sit down at the end of the season and reflect on it being a good achievement but we won’t really think about until it happens and we will see if we can progress from there.
“Rangers have brought quality into the league and they will be looking to get that second spot.
“It is going to be a good fight and one we are more than capable of dealing with but we need to let results do the talking.”