BBC Scotland’s Tom English answers your Aberdeen questions

BBC Sport Scotland chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions.

Scott asked: Quite simply, can Aberdeen split the Old Firm this year?

Tom answered: Hi Scott. Can they? Yes, anything is possible. Will they? No. The Dons are doing well under Jimmy Thelin, but it’s way too early to be getting carried away. Tough games are coming up, so let’s see how they navigate them before making any big calls.

Since 2017-18 when they last split the Old Firm, Aberdeen finished 11 points behind Rangers and were then 22 points, 21 points, 48 points, 35 points and 37 points behind the team in second place (Rangers, apart from one season, when it was Celtic).

If they pull it off, it would be an astonishing outcome. A strong third is their target, I’d imagine. That looks realistic, but again, the season is still in its infancy.

Andy asked: Tom, do you think that Conor Barron moving to Ibrox improved his international prospects?

Tom answered: Ah, I was wondering if this was going to come up, Andy. Remember, Barron wasn’t in Steve Clarke’s original squad, so the fact he was playing for Rangers didn’t count for anything at that point.

Callum McGregor, Lewis Ferguson, Ryan Jack and Stuart Armstrong are all missing right now – McGregor retired, obviously – so there was a gap and Clarke wanted a defensive-minded midfielder to fill it. He wasn’t blessed with options.