THE theory from Lee Johnson is that players and teams in Scotland are 'brainwashed' into believing that the Old Firm cannot be beaten.
But Jim Goodwin insists Aberdeen will never take to the field fearing the worst as he attempts to upset the odds and silence Ibrox on Saturday.
Johnson reflected on the psychological challenge of toppling Rangers and Celtic after seeing his Hibernian side suffer a 6-1 hammering at Parkhead earlier this month.
It was a result that opened the Englishman's eyes to the records that Premiership clubs have against the big two and how players approach fixtures with teams that regularly beat them in successive seasons.
Aberdeen no longer have the weight of three decades' worth of history hanging around their necks at Ibrox. Indeed, Goodwin is sure there will be no mental barriers to overcome against Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side.
"That was part of our group meeting this morning where we spoke about the venue and the badge," Goodwin said. “We spoke about how teams sometimes go into those types of games with a defeatist mindset.
“That is something we are trying to change here. We don’t want the players ever going into a game not believing that they have a chance of winning.
“The guys are feeling very good about themselves and there is a lot of confidence within the group. A lot of the time in life and in sport it comes down to mindset.
“Some people have already lost the game before they get there. However our guys are in a great place.
“I think there is a real air of positivity and excitement about the place. I don’t sense any nerves or any anxiety.
“There are guys in the dressing room who want to go and test themselves against the best teams in the county.
“Right now Celtic and Rangers are the top two teams and we want to go and see how far away we are from bridging that gap. This Saturday gives us a great opportunity to do that."
Aberdeen will make the trip to Ibrox on the back of three successive wins over Hearts, Partick Thistle and Motherwell that have seen them rise to third spot in the Premiership and set up a Premier Sports Cup semi-final with Van Bronckhorst's side.
It will be a first taste of facing Rangers on their home soil for many members of Goodwin's revamped squad and the fixture provides a platform for Aberdeen to showcase their strengths both technically and mentally against a side that are in desperate need of a morale-boosting victory.
The presence of Duk, Bojan Miovski and Ylber Ramadani ensures the Dons have the quality on the ball to get at Rangers. Their state of mind could prove to be just as important on the day.
“Duk and Miovski are still young," Goodwin said. “Ramadani is a top player with an incredible mentality and a great mindset.
“These players don’t fear going into any games. They are all senior internationals – Duk, Miovski and Ramadani. They are all made of tough stuff.
“They respect opposition but they don’t over respect them. They believe they belong there, believe that they are capable of competing at that level against Celtic and Rangers.
“They back themselves and that is very infectious within the rest of the group. That is something that we need to continue to try to grow.
“We talk about developing players technically, physically and making them stronger, quicker and teaching them tactics.
“I also think you can help develop peoples’ mind-sets an psychologically I think we can all improve. We can all try to train ourselves to have a better focus and a better mind-set.
“A bit more confidence and self belief in ourselves an in each other. I think that is rubbing off around the place with the rest of the group."
