This is the kind of Old Firm week that can change the mood of a season in 90 minutes. Rangers host Celtic in a League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox on Sunday, and the prize is immediate and simple: a place in the semi-finals and a step to within 90 minutes of Hamden.
Derek McInnes has already made it clear that the atmosphere inside the dressing room is part of the reason Rangers believe they can rise to it. He said there has been a real bond between the players, adding that the group feels like one he recognises and wants his team to be. There have been, in his words, plenty of cuddles going on, but the bigger point is more serious: the players look desperate to do well.
That matters because this is not just a standalone cup tie. Rangers go into the game after a 1-0 win over St Mirren on Wednesday, secured by Bojan Miovski in added time, and they have now put together four straight league victories. The result does not make them finished articles, but it does suggest a team with some momentum at the right time.
What the match is likely to demand
McInnes did not dress the challenge up as anything other than difficult. He said Rangers will have to make it tough for Celtic and that the tie already has the makings of a brilliant cup match. He also pointed to the basic football problems that usually decide games like this: move the ball quickly, do not assume there is time to play, and be ready for Celtic's press and intensity.
That is the right way to frame it. In a game like this, the broad idea of control matters less than the ability to survive pressure, win duels and execute in short bursts. McInnes said there will be a lot of individual battles to win, and that a bit of fire and ice at the right times can help matters. In other words, emotion will matter, but only if it is matched by clarity.
Rangers are also playing this as part of a double-header against Celtic, with the teams meeting again at Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership seven days later. That gives Sunday’s match an extra layer of importance. It is a cup quarter-final, yes, but it is also a first reading of where the balance sits before the league meeting arrives.
The bigger picture is straightforward enough. Rangers last won the League Cup in 2023, while McInnes knows the value of this competition already from his Aberdeen success in 2014. Now he is trying to turn a growing sense of togetherness into something more tangible. That is the test at Ibrox: not just whether Rangers can compete, but whether they can make the occasion their own and stay on course for Hamden.
