Aberdeen are free of delusional thinking and don't need to beat Celtic to achieve the remarkable – Keith Jackson

There's some good news and some bad news for Aberdeen on the back of the comprehensive shoeing dished out to them at Hampden on Saturday evening.

The bad news is Jimmy Thelin and his players have now been disabused of any notion that they might be on the brink of writing their own Leicester City style fairytale this season. Even the hopeless romantics out there must see now that it’s simply not going to happen.

In truth, they were disembowelled by a Celtic side which didn’t really need to get out of third gear as the top-flight champions romped to a 6-0 rout in the first semi final of this season’s Premier Sports Cup. It was more than just a thrashing. It was a reality check which puts to bed any lingering idea that the men from the north might be well enough equipped to mount a serious challenge for this season’s domestic crown.

Again – and just to be clear – it’s simply not going to happen. And while we’re at it, let’s acknowledge too that just because Rangers managed to wobble and stagger their way into next month’s final yesterday afternoon, there’ll be hardly any hope for them either when their turn comes around to face Celtic back at the old place. As a matter of fact, some of Philippe Clement’s players went about their business in scrambling a 2-1 victory over Motherwell, as if they were dreading the idea of having to come back and trade blows with their rivals once again.

The truth is they’re nowhere near good enough to get in Celtic’s way and, although their manager may have escaped with a stay of execution yesterday, there is simply too much scar tissue around his ‘building’ for him to survive another head-on collision with the neighbours.

And this is where the good news is to be found as far as Thelin’s red