Derek McInnes saw his Aberdeen side defeat Motherwell to move up into second place in the league and vowed his players will fight to be the best of the rest behind Celtic.

The 2-0 victory at Fir Park, thanks to goals from Kari Arnason and Kenny McLean, puts Aberdeen on 62 points, three ahead of Rangers with six games left to play.

With defending champions Celtic looking on course to wrap up the title, the three-way battle for the runners-up spot looks to be between the Dons, Rangers and Hibs. McInnes believes his side will give everything they have to finish second after achieving the same in recent seasons.

"We are there or thereabouts where we normally are at this stage of the season," he said. "We've usually secured Europe and second spot by now but it's clear to see it's going to be a real challenge.

"Hibs are doing brilliant under Neil Lennon, Rangers have some very good players and you'd expect them, with what they've spent, that they would be the ones who should be at least closest to Celtic.

"But all three teams will be doing all they can to finish second. It's important for us to get a European spot. We're proud of the fact we've managed to finish second over the past few seasons.

"Some people say it's easy - if that was the case why's no-one else done it? Last season everyone said we'd get pushed aside with Rangers coming back up.

"That wasn't the case and this year we're fighting tooth and nail to be the next best team if Celtic are going to win it."

After a goalless first half at Fir Park, a quick-fire double sealed three points for the Dons and McInnes felt it was deserved on the balance of play.

He said: "There was a lot at stake for both teams and I'm glad we found a way to win it. We competed from the outset and nullified the threat of their two centre-forwards."

Motherwell boss Steven Robinson was disappointed with the goals his side conceded.

"It was a poor first half, it was scrappy and the conditions didn't help because the pitch was hard to play on," he said. "They were better than us without really hurting us.

"We started the second half really well and had a good 15-minute period. We said at half-time a set-play would win this game and in fact two set-plays won the game because we lose our man from a corner and from a throw-in and they score.

"That is why Aberdeen are second in the league. When it is scrappy they can come out and win games. After going 1-0 up, they were physical and controlled the game."