Jim Goodwin admits there's no hiding the challenge that lies ahead for Aberdeen as they go head to head with Celtic and Rangers within the space of three days upon return from the World Cup break. Although he believes his side will take lots of encouragement in how St Mirren performed when they inflicted the Hoops solitary domestic defeat in September.
The Scottish Premiership has been in cold storage for the past five weeks with the Dons last outing against Dundee United ending in a 1-0 victory for the north-east side which propelled Goodwin's men into third place. The Pittodrie boss has not been afraid to hide his ambitions to ensure the club return to the European stage after a disastrous campaign last season and he knows it's time the current group of players produced a positive result against the Old Firm, especially with both clashes taking place on home soil where the Reds have only lost once in seven league games.
He said: "The first two fixtures are as difficult as they can get because they are the top two teams in the country at the moment. Celtic have only had one defeat all season up until now against St Mirren away from home, so we've got to take a little bit of encouragement from that result. I thought St Mirren's game plan on the day was excellent, I thought they frustrated Celtic for large periods and deservedly won the game. What that proves is that they can be beaten if you get a number of things right on the day.
