Why Rangers legend Bobby Russell wants Celtic to knock Zenit out

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Rangers legend Bobby Russell hopes that Celtic beat Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League – but for a sneaky reason.

Celtic have received support from an unlikely source as they prepare to take on Zenit St Petersburg in the second-leg of their Europa League last-32 clash tonight (February 22).

The Bhoys take a 1-0 aggregate lead into the game in Russia having beaten their opponents at Parkhead a week ago and Rangers legend Bobby Russell hopes the Gers’ great rivals progress.

Having spent 10 years in the first team at Ibrox it is perhaps a surprise Russell wants the Hoops to do well in Europe, but his reasoning reveals why he is being so generous.

“The longer Celtic stay in Europe, the better it is for Rangers,” the 61-year-old told the Herald. “They are only human, and their available squad isn’t that big now with the injuries they have.

“When you are playing these kinds of games like the one against Zenit, players are going to be physically and mentally tired. You have to peak for these games, and I know how difficult it can be.

“It happened to us in 78/79. We were en-route to back-to-back trebles and had a great run in Europe, but it all caught up with us and we ended up getting injuries to key players. It all led to us missing out on the treble by one game, so it could be the same with Celtic. If they do continue in Europe, it could catch up with them.”

Rangers are currently nine points behind their Glasgow rivals in the Scottish Premiership table after beating Hamilton Academical 5-3 away in their last league outing and watching Brendan Rodgers’ men draw 0-0 at home to St Johnstone – just three days after the first-leg with Zenit.

While that is quite a big gap, with 11 matches still left to play and Gers to host Celtic at Ibrox on March 11, a lot could still change between now and the end of the season.

This is especially true considering that, with their extra European exertion, the Bhoys have already drawn (seven compared to four) and lost (two compared to none) more league games than they did last term.