Johnstone tells Rangers fans not to get their hopes up of challenging Celtic this season

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Former Rangers forward Derek Johnstone has proclaimed that he can’t envision a scenario where Rangers challenge Celtic for the title this season.

As reported by the Evening Times, former Rangers forward Derek Johnstone has insisted that Rangers fans should not get their hopes up as he believes Celtic will win the Scottish Premier League title once again this season.

Johnstone, who appeared more than 350 times for the Glasgow-based club, made his comments just 24 hours prior to Rangers taking on Hearts as they attempt to cut their bitter rivals’ deficit at the top of the league to just six points.

“A few people have gotten a bit too excited over the possibility of a title race in the last few days but, for me, it is not going to happen,” said Johnstone.

“Listen, I would love Rangers to make a late charge and lift the title come May but I just can’t see it happening unfortunately.”

“Celtic are nine points clear and that is a great position to be in at this stage of the campaign.”

While there is certainly something to be said for keeping your expectations at a realistic level, you have to question Johnstone’s line of thinking here ahead of a weekend that could easily put an entirely new twist on the title race.

After all, Celtic will be coming up against an extremely tough challenge away at Aberdeen, and if Rangers pick up the three points tomorrow then the pressure will really be on the leaders as they attempt to keep up their fine league form this season.

Plus, given their exit from Europe last night in addition to the travel required to get back from Russia, their preparations may be affected in comparison to Rangers who will be feeling confident after scoring 11 goals in their last two games, both of which were away from home.

Aside from that, though, it generally seems odd from the perspective of a club legend to be downplaying the likelihood of a title charge. If anything Rangers fans should be building some optimism around Ibrox because at this stage, they do not have all that much to lose.

The Scottish Cup will still be a priority but it will not be anywhere near the level of the league, and creating a sense of belief could really boost Rangers’ somewhat unlikely chances of pushing Celtic all the way.