Derek McInnes played down suggestions that Rangers could increase the pressure on Celtic and Hearts by defeating Dundee on Saturday evening.
Three points at Dens Park would send Rangers above Celtic and into first place in the Scottish Premiership. Their Glasgow rivals do not play until Sunday, when they face third-placed Hearts in a repeat of last season’s title-deciding fixture.
McInnes’ team have recorded seven consecutive victories across all competitions, while Celtic have struggled recently, suffering four defeats in five matches. However, the Rangers manager believes it is too soon to focus on results elsewhere.
Asked whether a win could give Rangers a mental edge over Celtic and Hearts, McInnes said his team’s priority was simply to secure victory in their own match.
He added that the day on which a team is scheduled to play makes little difference, as the objective is always to win, and stressed that it remains too early in the campaign to talk about pressuring title rivals.
Celtic and Hearts were involved in European competition on Thursday. Celtic suffered a 4-1 Europa League defeat against Benfica, while Hearts earned a 1-1 draw with Nordsjaelland in the Conference League.
Rangers failed to qualify for European competition this season after a deeply disappointing Conference League play-off loss to Czech side Jablonec in August.
McInnes admitted that Rangers would prefer to be competing in Europe and felt some envy while watching the matches, but said their absence would only be advantageous if the club achieved success domestically.
He acknowledged that having no European fixtures provides additional preparation time, although he warned that it offers no guarantee of positive results.
McInnes also refused to suggest that playing before their rivals would create extra pressure, insisting that his attention was on helping Rangers improve and collect another three points.
His message was to progress one match at a time, focus on winning and avoid becoming overly concerned with events elsewhere.
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