Billy Dodds vowed Rangers won't overlook Aberdeen and be distracted by the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao.
The Ibrox coach has insisted the full focus of efforts will be on winning at Pittodrie on Sunday rather than having an eye on the crucial UEFA contest on Thursday night.
Rangers travel to Aberdeen knowing a defeat would officially crown Celtic as Scottish Premiership champions after their triumph over Kilmarnock on Saturday.
A draw would see the league title technically still not finished with a 15-point gap and the same number of points still to play for after the split, however, Celtic boast a far superior goal difference.
Dodds admits it's imperative that Rangers force Celtic to finish the job rather than gifting the league crown come full-time a Pittodrie.
"Of course it's important," he said when asked about making Celtic work for the title. "And we're striving to do that. Come tomorrow, we'll see what we've got for Aberdeen.
"I swear, all we're concentrating on is Aberdeen, we're not even looking at next Thursday.
"It would be naive, stupid to even look forward to Thursday.
"We are just looking at Aberdeen now. We need to go for it, whoever we play, whatever team we pick. We want to beat every team.
"There have been a couple of disappointments so we know how that feels. Aberdeen, we've got to win.
"I think we've got to take so much confidence out of that as well. We did it the last time in Europe, we go to Celtic Park and everybody wrote us off.
"I think performances like that bring you energy and that's what we're going to need when we face Aberdeen."
On whether it is a challenge to put European football to one side for the league contest, he added: "You can't think of things like that, that would be crazy.
"If you take your eyes off Aberdeen with the size of fixture it is, it would be naive and stupid and I stand by that."
Reflecting on the 0-0 draw with Athletic Bilbao before locking in on the Aberdeen fixture, Dodds said: "Heroic, I would say.
"It's amazing how we've kept a clean sheet with nine players, obviously 10 players, then down to nine.
"We've been losing a few goals but it shows what can be done with hard work, graft, and a bit of organisation. The players were, and I'm not embarrassed to say it, heroic."
Few have more experience of the gravity of fixtures between Aberdeen and Rangers than Dodds, having featured in countless matches between the clubs, on both sides.
"Absolutely (got that edge)," he said of Aberdeen vs Rangers matches. "It's a famous fixture, one of the biggest on the calendar and I think if you're an Aberdeen or Rangers player, this is a fixture you look forward to.
"At Pittodrie, probably a full house, it'll be some atmosphere, so if you're not looking forward to that, there's something wrong.
"There are a few for both, but I'm at Rangers now and that's my complete focus. I've given my heart and soul for every team I've played for, so it's Rangers on Sunday now."
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Dodds was one of four recruits at Ibrox as Barry Ferguson joined as interim boss replacing Philippe Clement. Allan McGregor and Neil McCann also joined the temporary coaching team with Issame Charai remaining in place at Ibrox.
Despite a challenging spell, particularly at home, Dodds has stated he is loving life at Rangers.
On his position, Dodds said: "Absolutely loving it, we all muck in. The coaching staff have got plenty of experience, although we're quite animated on the touchline - I think I'm the calmest of the lot - I'm loving it here.
"We've been asked questions, there've been a couple of disappointments but it's been nothing but positive."
One thing that would make it even more enjoyable for Dodds, though, would be a consistent run of form for Rangers. Magnificent in Europe, Rangers have too often been mediocre in domestic competition this season.
But Dodds is confident the players have the ability to go on a prolonged run of positive results.
"It would make things easier on the coaching staff," he said when asked about the quest for consistency at Rangers.
"We've got plenty of experience, we know what's required, we know how what makes these players tick at times.
"We would like that consistency, but sometimes football's like that.
"I think if they put their minds to it, the players realise that we can go on a consistent run. The defeats have been a disappointment but overall we can see some sort of consistency coming back.
"But we can't get away from it, we lost a couple of games, that's been a wee dent.
"I think the reaction from the players has been unbelievably good."
