A lot of teams have claimed they’re the second-best side in Scotland but we can take a big step towards it by beating Saints

SAYS DEREK McINNES

LET the competition opine, boast and bluster. Aberdeen are poised to cement a position that should silence all debate — and prove that they are Scottish football’s ‘Best of the Rest.’

Within touching distance of securing second spot in the Premiership, the Scottish Cup finalists may even move beyond reach of their one remaining challenger within the next 24 hours or so.

A home win over St Johnstone today, allied to another Old Firm loss for Rangers, would put the Dons 12 points clear with four games remaining — and cushioned by the kind of goal difference that pushes probability to the furthest fringes of deep mathematics.

Only four points short of last year’s league total, aided by a striker close to becoming the first Pittodrie player to enjoy three straight 20-goal seasons since ‘His Red Highness’ Joe Harper was on the loose, the Pittodrie club hardly need worry about chatter from further down the ladder.

‘Everybody has opinions,’ said Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes, responding to Hibs head coach Neil Lennon lauding his Championship winners as the second-best team in the land — despite last week’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to the Dons.

‘A lot of teams have claimed they’re the second-best team in Scotland this season. We have no problem with that, if that’s what people think of their team.

‘I still think we have work to do. Nobody will give us it. We have to replicate the form we’ve shown for the last seven months, over the next month.

‘How we finish the season will define our season. It was important we got to the cup final and it’s just as important that we go into the cup final in good form. I think the focus on the league will help us with that.

‘When the split comes, each game becomes really important. There’s a lot to sort out and that’s what we’re focused on.

‘Winning against St Johnstone will be a big step towards finishing second. It’s important we have an edge to our game. The next five games against the best teams in the country will help with that.’

The prospect of fighting tooth and claw against elite opposition over the coming weeks sounds like ideal preparation for Aberdeen’s Hampden showdown with Celtic on May 27.

Consider the certainty of an early start to next season and you’d understand if players wondered when — if —they might get a break from football’s relentless demands.

There is an outside chance that European results may bump the Dons up the rankings sufficiently to give them an extra fortnight’s grace. As it stands, however, any of their players on national service this summer will struggle to get so much as a long weekend’s respite from the day job.

McInnes works hard to ensure that no-one at Pittodrie views the necessity of summer football as a chore. Even if the appeal of European competition can begin to fade due to over exposure.

‘As it stands, the players would have two weeks off, around 15 or 16 days,’ he said of the squad in general. ‘It would be the shortest break they’ve had.

‘We can’t get too blase about Europe — we’d rather be in it than not. But sometimes, for the players who have been through it for a few years, it can be seen as a: “here-we-go-again” scenario.

‘Every player I’ve brought here or tried to sign, a big part of the sell is that we can play in Europe. Outwith half-a-dozen clubs in England and another two clubs in Scotland, we can provide that.

‘When it comes around, we all look forward to it. We would like a bit more rest, but I think the winter break this season has helped bridge the gap.

‘We haven’t done a normal