Rangers and Celtic go head-to-head this afternoon as they scrap it out for a place in the Scottish Cup final.
Over one million people in Scotland watched the clash between the teams last season, while the game was also shown in a further 54 countries. Another bumper television audience is expected to tune in today.
The Gers are hopeful they can challenge Ronny Deila’s Premiership champions-elect after recently securing promotion back to the top flight, while the Hoops will be looking for a repeat of last season’s League Cup semi-final when the Parkhead men ran out 2-0 winners.
Rangers have undoubtedly improved under Mark Warburton since that game last February but will be desperate to prove that today.
Victory for Celtic, on the other hand, will keep the Hoops on course for a double and Ronny Deila’s first Scottish Cup success.
The two teams go into the match with a very different set of injury concerns – Rangers are missing a number of key attackers while Celtic could be without two crucial defenders.
Gers forward Martyn Waghorn has failed to recover from a knee injury, while Harry Forrester misses out with a fracture to a bone in his leg. Wingers Michael O’Halloran and Billy King are cup-tied.
Centre back Jozo Simunovic remains out with a knee injury but fellow central defender Erik Sviatchenko is expected to recover from a thigh injury in time to take his place in Deila’s starting team.
What are the managers saying?
Mark Warburton: “The lads are well-prepared, they have worked hard all season. They are in a good place. They’ve won the league and are moving on. They are looking forward to the game and I think they’ll relish it.
“There are no wobbles. It isn’t a bridge too far. Far from it. I’ve told them, ‘don’t look back with any regrets. Go and enjoy it’.”
Ronny Delia: “Rangers is a big club, they have the second highest budget in the country so of course it should be a big fight. But right now we are the best team in Scotland and that is something we should be proud of and it gives us a lot of confidence.
“We know when we are playing at our best that we can beat anybody and Rangers as well. We are looking forward to it but at the same time we have to be really focused and avoid stupid mistakes.”
Watch live
The game kicks of at 12 noon and will be shown live on Sky Sports 2. The coverage starts at 11am.
