Rangers disgust Aberdeen and only Celtic Park is a more hostile ground but I LOVED going there – Barry Ferguson

There are certain phrases from my playing days that still trigger an adrenalin rush all these years on.

And the words, ‘Aberdeen, away’ are right up there near the very top of the list. Let’s not beat about the bush, they absolutely hated us up there and we felt it in the air every time we stepped off that bus. Don’t get me wrong, the staff at Pittodrie could not have been any nicer or more accommodating. Genuinely, they were lovely people.

But the fans outside and inside the ground couldn’t hide their disgust at the sight of a Rangers shirt. Not that they had the slightest intention of trying to do so. They let us know all about it from the moment we arrived until we were safely heading back down the A90. And I must admit I absolutely loved every single minute of it.

Which is precisely why Michael Beale and Rangers should be rubbing their hands at the thought of heading back up to the north east on Sunday – with just one week to go until they face Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi at Hampden.

As a footballer I always felt the ideal preparation for an Old Firm match you simply had to win was to go into it off the back of the stiffest test you could possibly get. And Aberdeen away was that very fixture. I didn’t want to go through the motions at Ibrox, with loads of possession, picking up a comfortable three points. No, I wanted to be thrown into the eye of a storm in the most hostile environment imaginable outside of Celtic Park – and we were guaranteed to find that waiting for us every time we went up that road.

If there are Rangers players in Beale’s squad who don’t fancy it or would rather have an easier life this weekend then they are not the sort of people I would want by my side in that tunnel at the National