Rangers’ team bus was daubed with graffiti – including a reference to the Ibrox Disaster of 1971, when 66 were crushed to death - while it was parked overnight at a hotel on the outskirts of Aberdeen prior to today’s Scottish Premiership game between the sides before a capacity crowd at Pittodrie.

The fixture marks the resumption of a rivalry which has been marked by hostility for almost 30 years, one of the triggers being a horrific tackle by the Aberdeen midfielder, Neil Simpson, on Rangers’ Ian Durrant in a league match at Pittodrie in October 1988.