Rangers and Celtic will resume their title challenge ahead of the Scottish Premiership’s return from the winter break.
Former Rangers player Terry Butcher has admitted that he is ‘a bit afraid’ that the Gers may have woken Celtic up for the title race.
The Scottish Premiership will return from their winter break this weekend, with the teams participating in the cup competitions prior to the league action in midweek.
Prior to the break, Steven Gerrard’s side had inflicted a 1-0 win over their Old Firm rivals to move level on points with the leaders in the table.
Former England defender Butcher thinks that result ‘may have pocked the bear’, referring to Celtic, who are looking to claim their eighth title win in a row.
“I was just a bit afraid when it did happen [Old Firm win] that Rangers may have poked the bear and Celtic might wake up and say ‘We need to improve to win this title’,” Butcher told STV.
“I think it’s really good to see for the first time in a number of years that Celtic are under pressure, which they haven’t been before.”
Since the start of January, both Rangers and Celtic have opted to dip into the transfer market ahead of a gruelling second half of the campaign.
The Gers’ standout purchases have been Premier League duo Steven Davis and Jermain Defoe, both arriving on loan deals from Southampton and Bournemouth, respectively.
As for Celtic, they added West Brom winger Olivier Burke to their ranks and highly-rated teenager Timothy Weah from Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain.
Brendan Rodgers side return to action this Saturday when they host lower league side Airdrieonians in the Scottish Cup fourth-round – they play St Mirren in the league four days later.
As for their neighbours, they travel to Cowdenbeath on Friday night as they look to qualify to the next stage of the cup competition before taking on third-placed Kilmarnock next Wednesday.
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