text: Adam Rooney is determined to prevent a season of outstanding personal achievement from ending with a sting its tail. The prospect of watching Celtic celebrate title glory inside Pittodrie would, he admits, be a painful experience to bear. After sticking to the coat-tails of the champions for so long, this would be the most unwelcome denouement imaginable. Should the current eight-point gap between the teams remain intact, then Ronny Deila’s side will have the chance to clinch a fourth successive Premiership crown when they head to the north-east on May 10. Aberdeen striker Adam Rooney does not want to see Celtic win the league on their patch on May 11 . Rooney, though, expects Aberdeen to be fully motivated to prevent a green-and-white party from getting underway. ‘If they are going to win it they are going to win it,’ said the 27-year-old striker, who on Thursday made the shortlist for PFA Scotland Player of the Year. ‘Obviously, though, we wouldn’t like to see them celebrating on our patch because of the season we have had. We have pushed them close enough this year, so it wouldn’t be nice to watch that. ‘You don’t want to see teams celebrating. You want to be the ones celebrating, particularly at home. I wouldn’t like it for the fans so we just have to make sure that, on the day, we win the game.’ Somewhat ominously for Aberdeen, they have lost all three previous meetings with Celtic this season. A 4-0 reverse at Parkhead early last month killed off any realistic prospect of a first championship flag in 30 years being flown at Pittodrie. The points total Aberdeen have amassed proves that they have been every bit as good as Celtic against the other teams in the top flight. Celtic are eight points ahead of second place Abderdeen and could win the title when they face their nearest challengers on May 11 . But is it feasible for Derek McInnes’ outfit to take that final, most difficult, step and view winning the league as a realistic aim in the next year or two? ‘People were waiting to see how we got on this year in case we dropped back down again,’ said Rooney. ‘But because of the stability we have with lads tied up on contracts, and the way the gaffer goes about things, no-one was going to slack off. ‘Hopefully we can add some quality over the summer as well. I don’t think there will be massive numbers going in and out, but hopefully we can keep building. ‘If we can even be a few points closer again this time next year, and Celtic drop off, we could be there or thereabouts. ‘We are only eight points behind Celtic at this stage of the season when most teams would expect to be at least 30 points behind them. Rooney was nominated for the Scotland Player of the Year and has netted 27 times this season . ‘I don’t think we’ve lost to anyone other than Celtic in the league since October, which is such a great achievement. ‘It’s just down to the job the gaffer and Tony Docherty have done. They have brought a lot of quality into the squad. ‘We spent money on Kenny McLean from St Mirren, which shows the club is ambitious, and Graeme Shinnie is coming in the summer. ‘He was a young lad when I was at Inverness and he is a great signing for us. I thought he was brilliant in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic last Sunday. He was by far one of the best players on the pitch, which is saying something when you consider the quality which was on show in that game.’ If Shinnie proves as good an addition as Rooney – signed from Oldham in January 2014 - then McInnes will be utterly delighted. The Irishman’s 27 goals this season have been a crucial component in the red results machine and even led Dons legend Willie Miller to claim he was up with Joe Harper and Duncan Shearer in terms of the finest Aberdeen strikers of recent decades. Rooney scored the winning goal for Aberdeen against Dundee United last Saturday . ‘He must have been drunk when he said that!’ laughed a self-effacing Rooney. ‘I think Barry Robson also compared me to Ally McCoist and he got stick for that. ‘It’s obviously nice to have good things said about you but I just want to try and keep it going until the end of the season. ‘Terry Butcher used to compare me to Ian Rush when I was at Inverness and I got stick for that, too. I think I’ve been compared to everyone apart from Gary Doherty, who is the only one I look like! ‘I’m scoring goals because the lads have created so my chances for me. My target is to get as many as possible and I’m only three away from 30 now, so it would be nice to get there. ‘I wasn’t aware until you told me that I’d only be the sixth player in Aberdeen’ s history to do it - so thanks for the pressure! But it would obviously be a great accolade to get. ‘Confidence has been high. I managed to get a few goals in the Europa League at the start of the season and it’s just gone from there. ‘The team have dominated a lot of games this season, so I’ve been lucky enough to be in the right place to get on the end of what has been created.’
target: Celtic are eight points clear of Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership .
  If the gap stays the same Celtic could win the title at Aberdeen on May 11 .
  Aberdeen's Adam Rooney doesn't want Celtic to celebrate on their patch .