The former Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper believes if Rangers get a result at Ibrox against the Celts, they will have the belief that they can go on and close the gap to three points with a win at Celtic Park
Former Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper Alan Rough believes his old side will lose to Rangers at Ibrox when the two teams face off in early March.
Rangers did remarkably well to hold Celtic to a 0-0 draw in December away at Parkhead and were very unlucky to leave without all three points after some magnificent saves from Craig Gordon.
There has been much talk of a title race in recent weeks, although it was been quashed by most pundits and fans, however, should Rangers beat the Hoops next week like Rough has suggested, there is no doubt that the pressure would be heavily mounted on Brendan Rodgers’ men to avoid another slip up in their remaining fixtures.
“I think Rangers will beat Celtic at Ibrox,” Rough told PLZ Soccer.
“I think that if Rangers were to beat Celtic at Ibrox and go into the split with 5/6 points of a difference, with another game [against Celtic] to come, Rangers will believe that [they can win again].”
The belief that Rough is speaking about has been gradually building up since Graeme Murty’s appointment after the sacking of Pedro Caixinha, and was only heightened more after the highly promising January transfer window.
Rangers have no doubt gotten their mojo back at a time when it feels like Celtic have been somewhat losing theirs, although the Hoops will not feel too threatened yet by their rivals and will have full faith that they can see out the remainder of the season fairly unscathed.
Rough’s prediction may be bold and not completely unimaginable, but the suggestion that Rangers can cut the nine points deficit and establish a lead of their own seems fairly unrealistic given the gulf in quality that still exists between the two squads.
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