A win for Rangers on Sunday against Celtic could well and truly provide them with the belief that they need going into the rest of the Premiership campaign.
James McFadden has claimed that Steven Gerrard ‘very rarely’ makes the same mistake twice, as he also stated that Rangers and Celtic won’t admit that they are pushing one another, nor would they credit their rival.
The race for the Premiership title took another twist on Wednesday night when Rangers dropped points at Aberdeen, whilst Celtic recorded a late 2-1 win over Hamilton.
It means that Gerrard’s side are now two points behind their rivals going into Sunday’s League Cup final, which could prove to be absolutely massive for what happens during the rest of the campaign.
Speaking to Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland, McFadden was full of praise for the work Gerrard has done at Ibrox, as he praised both Celtic and Rangers for producing a compelling title race.
“I think the speed in which Steven Gerrard has managed to get his team to the level they are at is remarkable,” McFadden told Sportsound. “Eyebrows were raised were Gerrard first got the job because he had no previous managerial experience.
“The thing for me, and he’s made mistakes everyone makes mistakes, but he fixes them. He very rarely makes the same mistake twice and he learns. He is learning on the job. He has done a brilliant job for me and it’s great to see.
“These two teams [Celtic and Rangers] are pushing each other. They won’t credit each other. Of course, they won’t. The fans won’t either because they are only interested in their own team most of the time. But they are pushing Celtic all the way and making sure they are at that level. I think it’s fascinating because it’s very hard to split them.”
This time last season, Rangers were heading into the winter break level on points with their rivals, as many felt that Gerrard was going to push Brendan Rodgers right to the end in the race for the top crown.
But during the second half of the campaign, Rangers began dropping valuable points, as Celtic ended up easing to their eighth straight title.
Rangers fans will be hoping their players and manager have learnt from the wrongs of last season and will be hopeful they can put it right when the crunch months arrive.
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