- Barry Ferguson insists Old Firm is never a dead rubber despite Rangers’ fading title hopes.
- Rangers target second place and aim to dent Celtic’s title charge at Parkhead.
- “We need to outwork Celtic” – Ian Durrant suggests intensity and 90-minute commitment demanded in Glasgow clash.
Rangers travel to Celtic Park on Sunday with the title race slipping from their grasp, but the stakes remain as sharp as ever.
Defeat to Hearts has left Danny Rohl’s side trailing at the top, yet the final Old Firm clash of the season offers something that rarely needs manufactured significance.
The chance to define the narrative and deny Celtic a record-setting title.
For former Gers captain and manager Barry Ferguson, there is no such thing as a meaningless derby.
“I’m not buying into that it’s a dead rubber,” he said on the Five Stars Podcast.
“You’re coming up against your fiercest rivals.
“I don’t care what’s happening, you have to go there and make sure you compete.”
That word, compete, sits at the centre of Rangers’ task.
Not for spells, not in moments, but across the full arc of the game, something they have struggled to do this season.
More than pride at stake says Barry Ferguson
While the title may have drifting away, the consequences of this fixture remain important.
Second place, and with it, a more favourable European pathway, still hangs in the balance.
Just as importantly, Rangers have the opportunity to directly disrupt Celtic’s own title charge.
“You want to be finishing second,” said Ferguson.
“You’re going to Celtic and you want to put a dent into their title hopes as well.”
And there is recent precedent to draw from.
Rangers have won on their last two visits to Celtic Park, a detail Ian Durrant believes should fuel belief rather than caution.
“We’ve won there the last twice, so let’s go and do it again,” said the nine-in-a-row Icon.
“What a pick-up it could be, especially if you beat Celtic.”
The wounded animal factor key for Ian Durrant
Martin O’Neill will sense vulnerability. Rangers, after all, arrive wounded.
But as Durrant points out, that dynamic cuts both ways.
“Celtic will come after us,” he admitted.
“They’ll see Rangers as a wounded animal.
“But when you’re a wounded animal, you’re dangerous.
“We need to go there and get our working gear on, we need to outwork Celtic.”
Barry Ferguson on setting a standard
For Ferguson, the closing weeks of the season should not be drifted through, they should be attacked.
“You’ve still got three games, let’s go and set a target now,” he said.
“Let’s go for nine points.”
It is an ambitious call given current form, but one rooted in expectation rather than optimism.
“You need to go and make sure you start next Sunday against your biggest rivals.
“Put a show on and do everything you can to try and get the three points.”
Read Rangers analysis
Beyond Sunday, a significant summer rebuild awaits.
Questions around recruitment, identity, and squad building are already forming.
But none of that dilutes the immediacy of what lies ahead.
Celtic Park will be full.
The atmosphere will be hostile.
Around 2,500 Rangers supporters will be inside, expecting a response.
Rangers may no longer control the title race, but they can still shape it.
And in Old Firm football, no matter the stakes, it always matters.
