Rangers captain David Weir believes the Old Firm's stuttering start to the season is giving the rest of the SPL a huge incentive.

The Gers surrendered their position at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with a 1-0 reverse against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Walter Smith's men are now two points adrift of leaders Celtic and have the same number of points as Hibernian.

And veteran skipper Weir thinks that teams like Hibs, Dundee United and Aberdeen will fancy their chances of catching the Old Firm this season if their poor form continues.

The defender said: "If we don't stop dropping points then I'm sure it will encourage everybody else if they see it is possible to beat the Old Firm.

"We need to put a run together where we are winning games as we have not done that for any length of time.

"Dropping points, whether you are losing or drawing, is not good enough when you are Rangers or Celtic so it is obviously something we have to address.

"There are other teams that will be looking at that and getting encouragement. The league is wide open at the minute."

The defeat at Pittodrie was only Walter Smith's side first loss on their travels this season but Weir believes it was only a matter of time before the Gers were beaten away from home.

He added: "There has been a trend towards slow starts away from home. We hadn't been beaten until this match but we haven't been playing well enough.

"Perhaps we got away with it a couple of times at St Johnstone and Hearts but against Aberdeen we probably got what we deserved, although we had the majority of the game and the majority of the possession.

"I don't think we did enough to win. We never started well and we showed a lack of composure all through the game."

Lee Miller, who scored the winner for Aberdeen, agreed that it is becoming an increasingly tight affair at the top of the table.

"I don't think anybody fears anybody in this league," he said.

"Teams like Dundee United, Motherwell and ourselves are all fighting for position.

"It is a tight league and there aren't many points between the Old Firm and ourselves. If we can pick up points then hopefully we can get ourselves right up there."

The Dons remain sixth in the table after the victory but Miller believes the win over Rangers can kick-start their season.

He said: "The attitude has been tremendous and our performances have been really good but we haven't been getting the results we merited. The fans have been getting frustrated, as have we, because we haven't been getting the results but hopefully we can now build on this win."

And the striker believes the Dons can go to Celtic Park next weekend and defeat the league leaders on their own patch.

He added: "Hopefully we can go down there and cause another upset - you never know.

"We have won there before and we don't fear anybody so we will go and hope to get a result."