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Livingston defender Ryan McGowan feels that if Aberdeen beat Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday then they will virtually have third place wrapped up, even so early in the season.
The Dons have made a flawless start to their league campaign as they have won all six of their opening league matches and are sitting behind Celtic only due to goal difference.
Third-placed Rangers are five points behind and Aberdeen will play bottom-of-the-league Hearts at Pittodrie on Sunday.
McGowan feels that it will be very difficult for other teams to catch Dons on the back of their incredible start except Rangers.
The Livingston defender believes if the Dons get three points against Hearts, they will almost have third-position wrapped up behind Celtic and Rangers, as only a nightmare spell could see them lose such a big advantage.
“Honestly, I think if Aberdeen win, they can kind of rule out [the possibility of losing out of third place], depending on how other results go”, McGowan said on the Scottish Football Podcast about Jimmy Thelin’s side.
“So hard to pull back a 17-18 point gap for the rest of the league already in the season so early on in.
“I think they would almost have that third place [locked in] unless they have a complete nightmare, they will almost have that third place wrapped up.”
Even though Hearts won their Conference League match against Dinamo Minsk on Thursday night they are still winless in the Scottish Premiership.
With Aberdeen not involved in Europe, that could even give the Dons a freshness boost over those Scottish sides who are in action in continental competition.
