Former Aberdeen midfielder Neale Cooper does not believe Aberdeen’s Scottish Premiership title hopes will be over if they are beaten by Celtic on Saturday.
Little more than a month ago, the Dons went five points clear at the top of the table after a 3-1 victory against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Derek McInnes’ men have handed the advantage back to Ronny Deila’s side after taking only one point from their next available 12.
Defeat at Parkhead on Saturday lunchtime would leave the Dons seven points adrift of the champions.
Thirty years have elapsed since Cooper helped the Dons to the 1985 league championship – the last time a side outwith Celtic or Rangers won the top flight.
Alex Ferguson’s Dons did not win either of its matches at Parkhead that season, but went on to claim the championship with two games to spare.
Former Celtic and Scotland midfielder Murdo MacLeod claimed a win for the Hoops this weekend would signal the end of this year’s title race but Cooper says it is too soon to dismiss Aberdeen’s title credentials.
He said: “It is far too early to talk about titles being decided.
“It would definitely give Celtic a decent lead if they were to win on Saturday but remember it is still only the end of October.
“Aberdeen were a good few points clear of Celtic not so long ago, but they have clawed their way back so things can change very quickly in football.
“Celtic are a strong side, but I wouldn’t say it is over if Aberdeen lose on Saturday.
“But we are really looking for Aberdeen to come up with a big performance this weekend.
“I believe Aberdeen can get a positive result if they play like they can.”
Gothenburg Great Cooper has been surprised by his former side’s lacklustre form in recent weeks after setting a new club record by starting the season with eight successive wins.
However the former Hartlepool, Peterhead and Ross County manager says any team can suffer a poor patch.
He said: “It was such a good start to the season and I never saw it turning like it did.
“This an experience the players and management will have learned from.
“In football, you can have spells where it feels nothing can go wrong and you feel unbeatable.
“Then, suddenly, lose a couple of games and it can become difficult to reverse that trend.
“Aberdeen ended that run at the weekend with a point against a Motherwell side who were eager to impress their new manager Mark McGhee.
“They have stopped the rot, but they will have to be very good at the back to keep Celtic out.”
The Dons have lost their last 20 away league matches at Parkhead but Cooper believes McInnes possesses the players to buck that trend.
He added: “Our Aberdeen team went out to win every game wherever and whoever we were playing and I’m sure Derek wants exactly the same mindset from his team.
“We knew we had to be mentally strong as we had players with the ability to hurt teams.
“We had to be ready to go into a fiery atmosphere at Parkhead with a packed stadium wanting to see their team win.
“We were mentally strong enough to deal with that pressure.
“We had a great record in Glasgow and Derek can do that as well.
“He will have had the players working hard this week and they will know what is required on Saturday.
“They know what it takes to beat Celtic having beaten them at Pittodrie only a few weeks ago.
“And if they get that win they will only be one point behind and everything is back rosy again.”