Stuart McCall is not getting carried away about Motherwell's chances of finishing ahead of one of the two Glasgow clubs this season.
The Steelmen currently sit second on the Scottish Premier League table, nine points in arrears of leaders Rangers, and one point ahead of Celtic.
But McCall says the main target of the North Lanarkshire club is to simply finish in the top half of the 12-team competition and not worry about what the Old Firm are up to.
"That has to be our aim," said McCall.
"People have been saying silly things about us trying to split the Old Firm but that's not for us.
"Teams are so evenly matched in the SPL outwith the big two that on their day anyone can get the better of the other side.
"We are very pleased with our start and the fact we have responded to a sticky patch when we lost at Celtic and at home to St Johnstone and then went out of the Communities Cup on penalties to Hibs.
"So we are going into the international break having completed the first quarter in good shape but we are not going to get carried away.
"It's a long season and we have already suffered two bad injuries to Steven Saunders and Shaun Hutchinson and we are going to need a bit of luck with injuries."
