How Old Firm cup tie could provide Premiership momentum

ByAndy Coyle

For BBC Sport Scotland

Last weekend's thrilling 2-2 draw at Ibrox kept alive a fascinating four-way race for the Scottish Premiership trophy, but when Rangers and Celtic meet again on Sunday with a place at Hampden on the line, there can only be one winner.

For both clubs, trying to win the title amid the fiercest competition in decades will be the priority - but the idea of signing off for the summer by holding the Scottish Cup aloft remains a tantalising prospect.

The draw has thrown the two favourites for the competition together at the quarter-final stage and whoever comes out on top in what looks to be a compelling contest in Govan will be confident in their chances of going all the way to the final in May.

But first will come a frenetic 90 minutes, and possibly more, that will settle progress, bragging rights and, in the eyes of some, a psychological advantage in the title race.

Former Rangers winger Peter Lovenkrands has his share of Old Firm memories, and a pair of Scottish Cup winners' medals to match his two title successes with the club.

He believes this season, with confidence and belief likely to play a part in the title run-in, success in one competition could influence the other.

"It can actually go in two different directions that way, but I think the whole league situation is just exciting and incredible," said Lovenkrands. "Whoever wins this one will probably get that wee bit more confidence to go on and push on.

"I do think that has a big factor in what's going to happen.

"You could flip it and say, 'is it going to take a wee bit of confidence away because you've potentially knocked your biggest rival out to go and get a trophy? So, you're going to potentially get a trophy, so are you going to focus a wee bit on that as well?'

"That takes a lot of your focus, where the other team can then pack that away because they can't do anything about it anymore and then focus on the league."

Lovenkrands believes Premiership leaders Hearts have the upper hand but sees plenty of twists to come, with his old club having positives in their favour.

"The other teams can take points off each other when the split happens and even before the split, you know, Motherwell's playing Celtic and they also play Hearts away, I think they're going to have a big factor in what's going to go on," added the Dane.

"For Rangers, that's a positive, for Rangers, that's good that they can take points off others.

"So, I think it will swing around, it will go close and it will go all around but I do think Hearts are definitely favourites right now."

One player Lovenkrands has kept his eye on is Rangers' January loan signing, and compatriot, Andreas Skov Olsen - and believes he just needs one big performance to ignite his season.

"He's trying to find his feet," added the Dane. "It's a hard one for him because it's a short loan so far. Everybody expects him to come in and do something from the start.

"I know what he can do, I've seen it. He'd done it in Denmark, previously scored 20-odd goals in a season. He is a goalscorer, he can score goals, he can create assists. He just needs to get back to that. And it's just a matter of time, I think, before he can hit the ground running again.

"It's not easy to expect him to come in and just be amazing from the start. It's the worst thing for a Danish winger to come in, especially a younger boy to come in to Rangers and everybody's expecting him to be as good as Brian Laudrup, who's probably the third-best ever Danish player.

"So that pressure doesn't help. But he has potential to be great, he has the potential to be very, very good. I just hope he needs a game where everything clicks for him. If he gets that wee goal in a way and plays a good game, that'll give him confidence to build on that. He needs that right now."

For Celtic great Sir Kenny Dalglish, his former club's hopes are boosted by having a manager in the dugout with an abundance of experience.

During Wilfried Nancy's short reign of six defeats in eight games, few would have thought the side would still have a chance of winning a league and cup Double this season.

Dalglish, who had a four-month spell as interim manager following John Barnes' departure in 2000, believes the club made the right call in turning to Martin O'Neill for a third spell in charge, but has also been impressed by Rangers head coach Danny Rohl's record since replacing Russell Martin.

"Wilfried Nancy only lasted 33 days - even I lasted longer than that," said Dalglish. "So, for [O'Neill] to come in and do it, it had to be done, and he did a fantastic job then. He's picked it up again and off he goes. He's done fantastically well.

"Whoever thought up the idea of Martin coming back, I think they deserve a whole lot of credit as well because he's done a fantastic job for them.

"Danny Rohl's done well. He had a lot to pick up and both of them have been excellent."

Celtic fans have been given around 7,500 tickets in the Broomloan stand for cup encounter - the largest away allocation in the derby for eight years. That decision was welcomed by both Lovenkrands and Dalglish, who said the atmosphere is always at its best when both sides can be heard.

"The best venue is at Hampden where it's 50-50," admitted Dalglish. "It's like a wedding cake, you just cut it straight down the middle and you get two different colours. It's the biggest game in Scottish football.

"The more it's 50-50, or the closer it gets to 50-50, the better the atmosphere will be.

"And it'll be pretty hot on Sunday I think."

Lovenkrands agrees, and said the difference has been noticed recently when clubs have kept the visiting supporter numbers to a minimum.

He said: "That's one of the things that I've felt that's been missing with the Old Firm for so many years, because the biggest memories I have of these things is the atmosphere from back then, because it was incredible.

"I'm just hoping that it's a game with a fantastic atmosphere and it's an exciting game."

Inconsistent results over the course of the season make it a difficult game to predict, even by derby standards.

"I don't know if you could choose between one or the other," Dalglish said. "Somebody's going to have to win, but it might go as far as penalties.

"If you can predict an Old Firm game you've done well. The last game [2-2 at Ibrox] and the game at Celtic Park [1-3], you wouldn't have predicted that result. After about half-an-hour at Ibrox on Sunday you wouldn't have predicted that.

"Predictions aren't easy but I think both of them have come on a good bit since the mid-season crisis. It's unfortunate in many ways that they're playing at this moment and not going through to the final to play. It's a special occasion, it's a big, big game but that's what came out of the hat, so they've got to play each other."

Lovenkrands cannot separate the sides either but is hopeful they can deliver a cracker of a game.

"We just need to wait and see," he said. "I just don't think you can call who's going to be favourites but it's going to be exciting to see who's going to win it.

"It doesn't matter how badly you've been doing previously, going into an Old Firm game, everything changes.

"You go into the game, there's two teams that know they can do it, both will think they can win the game. Both will go in and go at it."