Aberdeen 'far ahead' of Rangers as Joe Lewis pinpoints why Dons are no flash in the pan this season

The Dons have made a superb start to the season and have left former Pittodrie favourite Joe Lewis in no doubt that they are the better team than Rangers in the race for second

Former Aberdeen stopper Joe Lewis reckons his old side are 'far ahead' of Rangers and is not willing to rule out the Dons pushing Celtic all the way for the title.

A flying start to the Premiership campaign has seen Jimmy Thelin's side win 10 of their opening 11 matches, fighting back from 2-0 down to earn a draw against Celtic at Parkhead in the only game where they did not pick up maximum points. One of those victories came in a 2-1 triumph against the Gers at Pittodrie, with Philippe Clement's men now finding themselves nine points behind joint-league leaders Celtic and Aberdeen.

Lewis - who made 271 appearances for the Dons between 2016 and 2013 - admits that the value of the Rangers squad trumps that of the one at Swede Thelin's disposal but is in no doubt about who has the stronger claim to finish second this season. Speaking to gambling.com - who rank and review the best betting and casino sites -he said: "They [Aberdeen] are far ahead [of Rangers] in terms of the performances of the teams right now.

"The thing that’s probably working in Aberdeen’s favour, is they haven’t got one stand out player. It was probably [Bojan] Miovski the last two seasons, he was the stand out player and was sold for about £6 million. There is a collection of three or four really top-class players for Aberdeen this season, and the rest have been fantastic as well.

"Man for man in terms of the value of the squad, if you were a business, you'd probably take the Rangers squad. They've paid a lot more for them, so you’d probably sell them for more. Purely because they've been playing for Rangers, and they've got that weight of that behind them. But the Aberdeen players are playing like a better team."

The Englishman has also refused to rule out the prospect of the Reds giving Celtic a serious title challenge. He added: "They [Aberdeen] are joint top of the league at the moment. They're showing no signs of letting up. We’ve seen the Leicester story, and I think a few people have referenced that.

"They’ve got a few tough games coming up, so I think the next three or four games are going to be a real test. People had said we [Aberdeen] hadn't been tested up until we went to Celtic Park, but we passed that test, 2-0 down and then getting back to 2-2. And then convincingly beating Rangers at home - the scoreline probably flattered Rangers.

"I’ve played in teams that have beaten Rangers before, and quite often it’s backs-to-the-wall and conceding a lot of possession. Aberdeen were fantastic in that game and dominated large parts of it, so it doesn't seem like a flash in the pan at the moment. It's been going on a long time now.

"Celtic are very strong and they've got strength in depth. Aberdeen are a better team than Rangers, in my opinion, and they need to keep showing that. They're level at the top at the moment, and if I was still a player I'd be playing it down.

"But there's absolutely no reason why Aberdeen can’t finish second. And the longer it goes on, Celtic might hit a sticky patch, so you don't know what might happen. I am not going to write off first place yet."

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