Aberdeen midfielder Kenny McLean accepts the title is Celtic’s to lose – but knows his side can get right back in the hunt by winning their next two matches.
The Dons face Dundee at Pittodrie this evening before the eagerly anticipated visit of Celtic a week on Wednesday.
The Hoops extended their advantage at the top to six points with an 8-1 demolition of Hamilton midweek.
The top of the table tussle against the Hoops could be a key moment in the title race but McLean says his side’s full concentration is on inflicting a third defeat of the season on Dundee.
He said: “Everyone expects Celtic to win the league.
“After their result the other night against Hamilton, people think they will go on from here.
“It’s not in our hands, it’s in Celtic’s hands so were just focus on ourselves.
“We play Dundee on Friday night and that’s the only thing we’re looking at.
“If we win the next two games it would be great, but we have to focus on the first one.
“That’s the way we work here and it’s all about this three points first.
“There are a lot of people looking at the Celtic game but it hasn’t been mentioned in the dressing-room.
“Nobody has spoken about it because the Dundee one is more important right now.
“What we want to do is get the three points there and move on.”
The Dons will be without the suspended Mark Reynolds this evening as they bid to stretch their unbeaten league run to 10 matches.
McLean feels Aberdeen proved they have the stomach to take the title race by coming from behind to defeat Ross County 3-2, despite playing the majority of the match with 10 men.
He said: “We have taken loads of encouragement from winning at Ross County in those circumstances.
“The way we managed to win the game made it feel more than a normal win.
“It’s good for the confidence but whether that does anything in terms of challenging is another thing because Celtic went out on Tuesday and got a great result.
“All we’re doing is trying to keep winning matches and see where that takes us.
“We just need to get as many victories as we can and see what happens from there, it’s about us.
“Right now we’re on a good run and we just want to keep it going.”