Barry Robson has issued a “no fear, be brave” Ibrox battle cry to in-form Aberdeen.
The Dons will bid for an eighth successive Premiership victory when facing Rangers in Glasgow on Sunday.
Having overcome Rangers 2-0 at Pittodrie last month the Reds aim to rack up back-to-back wins against the Ibrox club.
Robson accepts it won’t be easy as Aberdeen have not won at Ibrox in the Premiership for almost five years.
Aberdeen have lost six and drawn two of the eight league games against Rangers since a 1-0 win in December 2018.
Robson this week penned a two-year contract to manage the Dons until at least the end of the 2024/25 season.
He has called for the Dons to “stand with their chests out” and enjoy the hostile away environment at Ibrox.
He said: “The message is clear to the players – be brave.
“Be brave with the ball and brave without the ball.
“I said to the players when you go out at Ibrox, or wherever, stand with your chest out and try to go and win the football match.
“We will go down there with no fear. We will enjoy it, enjoy the cauldron.
“When you are a young players that should be where you want to play – in a big arena where the pressure is on.
“Where it is hostile and they want to come after you.
“That is where you need to be in the mindset where you don’t fear it.
“You have to try to embrace it.”
‘Everyone has to be at it, staff included’
Rangers followed up the loss to Aberdeen by exiting the Scottish Cup with a 1-0 defeat to Celtic at Hampden last weekend.
However at Ibrox they have won 16 of their last 18 matches in the Premiership, drawing two.
Robson believes he will need every player performing at the top of their game to extend the Dons’ winning streak.
He said: “It’s going to be a really difficult game.
“I thought they performed really well against Celtic last weekend.
“It was a terrific game and Rangers played well.
“So we know we will have to be eight, nine or tens to get a result down there.
“We have to be at our best because Michael Beale (Rangers manager) will have them rotating, playing with speed.
“It will be really hard for us to put fires out.
“But we’ll have to stay in the fight and find a way of getting a good level of performance so we can get a result.
“We know we have to be at our best all over the pitch, you can’t be a man down there.
“So everyone has to be at it – staff included – and if we go down there doing that we believe we can get something from the game.”
Robson expects a ‘wounded’ Rangers
Aberdeen extended their longest winning streak since 2015 when beating Rangers at Pittodrie two weeks ago.
Second half goals from Liam Scales and Bojan Miovski secured a first home win against Rangers since 2016.
Robson accepts Rangers will be gunning for payback – and under pressure to deliver in front of their fans.
He said: “They will be wounded, it’ll be difficult, but they know the expectation of playing at Rangers or Celtic.
“They have to win games at home – they have to win away from home too – that’s the pressure they’re under.
“We managed to get a result here at Pittodrie the last time and it’s not easy to get results in Glasgow.
“It’s easy to say you can, but it’s about going there and doing it.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to get a result.
“If you’re going to beat Rangers, Celtic, Hearts or any team you have to ride your luck and we got that in the last game against Rangers because they missed a few chances.
“But we missed a few of our own in the second half, so we earned the result.”
Robson’s ‘one game at a time’ mantra
Rangers away is the first of five post-split fixture Aberdeen face in the bid to close out a third placed finish.
Aberdeen currently occupy third spot, holding a five-point advantage over fourth-placed Hearts.
Should the Dons finish third it would secure group stage European action until mid December, should Celtic win the Scottish Cup.
It would also land a bumper Euro cash payment of around £3 million.
Robson refuses to look beyond the trip to Ibrox.
He said: “We all have to play each other, it’s as simple as that.
“Everyone will be cutting each other off, there will be a lot of toing and froing because you can get a lot of unexpected results after the split.
“It will be exciting for the the fans and everyone watching but we just have to concentrate on each game as it comes.
“It’s so boring and I’m getting so bored of it myself, but it’s one game at a time!”
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