Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has set his players the task of making it a maximum return from matches against Caley Thistle.
The Dons will secure second place if they avoid defeat today in Inverness.
But, having taking nine points from the three previous encounters against Caley Jags this season, McInnes, while respectful of the Highland side’s achievements, knows his players head north in confident mood.
Peter Pawlett will be hoping to repeat his feat of scoring the only goal of the game when the Dons won 1-0 at Caledonian Stadium on December 28 and McInnes said: said: “We have a good record there and every win we’ve had against them has been hard fought.
“But we know they are a good team with different ways of playing.
“They can take you on physically and technically, and they have good know-how in their team which always makes them a challenge.
“John Hughes deserves a lot of credit for implementing his style and they showed how good they can be against a strong Celtic team last weekend.
“But we want to go up there and win the game and a strong performance will help us do that.
“It’s always a big game for Inverness when Aberdeen visit as we take a big support there and both sets of players will go on the pitch confident but hopefully we can come out on top.”
The Dons manager has been quick to lavish plaudits on the Highlanders’ achievements this season but he is equally proud of his team’s consistency in the campaign.
The Dons have exceeded their points tally of last season and with five matches remaining he has challenged his side to set the new benchmark as high as possible.
He said: “The time for reflection is at the end of the season but I recognise the efforts of the players and what they’ve given me this season.
“We’re not looking for credit but they’ve given me a great level of performance. Consistency is made up of so many things and we’ve had that but with 15 points still to play for we want to get as many as possible and we’ll see what our points tally is after those games.
“The fact no Aberdeen team has finished second in 21 years shows how difficult it is to achieve though and there is no shame in being behind a team with Celtic’s resources at this time of the season.
“We are just glad we have been good enough to stay in about them and I’m delighted with the points we’ve amassed at this stage. Hopefully, I’ll still be delighted after the last five games.”