Do Aberdeen only really try against Rangers? Dons record vs Celtic and Ibrox foes sized up in wake of Boyd blast

When the goals began to rain down at Celtic Park yesterday, there were groans and murmurs of 'oh, this again?'

They came both from an Aberdeen faithful pre-conditioned losing against Celtic these days, and from Rangers fans across the city, among whom there is a growing belief the Dons only show up against one half of the Old Firm. If that was the quiet part generally unsaid out loud until now, then Kris Boyd put a vexed voice to it live on Sky Sports. Fuming at Barry Robson's team for their 6-0 trouncing at Parkhead, the Ibrox hero said it was a 'fact' that they would raise their game after the international break...because it's Rangers they face on November 26.

He said: "You can look at the fixtures. I'm sure Barry will have absolutely no problem in getting them up for the next game, that's for sure. Because Rangers are in town." And after that raised an eyebrow or two in the studio, he doubled down. "Fact. It's true," he went on. For me, that's a sad indictment of the players."

Is it a fact though, Boydy? Part of the sting in his tail stems from a couple of recent Aberdeen wins over Gers. A 3-1 win at Ibrox spelled the end of the Michael Beale era while they also beat them at Pittodrie back in April, Liam Scales and Bojan Miovski putting one of the final nails in their title coffin.

Prior to that pair of victories, though, you have to go all the way back to 2019 for an Aberdeen win in the fixture; between their 2019 Scottish Cup quarter-final success over Gers and that 2-0 victory earlier this year, they'd gone 14 games without beating them.

It's been a similar, if not amplified story against Celtic over the same period. After Sunday's 6-0 thrashing, it's now one win in 36 visits to Celtic Park, and it was in May