How Old Firm cup tie could provide Premiership momentum

Last weekend's thrilling 2-2 draw at Ibrox kept both sides in the race for the Scottish Premiership title, but when Rangers and Celtic meet again on Sunday with a place at Hampden on the line, there can only be one winner.

For both clubs, trying to win the title amid the fiercest competition in decades will be the priority - but the idea of signing off for the summer by holding the Scottish Cup aloft remains a tantalising prospect.

The draw has thrown the two favourites for the competition together at the quarter-final stage and whoever comes out on top in Govan will be confident in their chances of going all the way to the final in May.

But first will come a frenetic 90 minutes, and possibly more, that will settle progress, bragging rights and, in the eyes of some, a psychological advantage in the title race.

Former Rangers winger Peter Lovenkrands has his share of Old Firm memories, and a pair of Scottish Cup winners' medals to match his two title successes with the club.

He believes this season, with confidence and belief likely to play a part in the title run-in, success in one competition could influence the other.

"The whole league situation is incredible," said Lovenkrands. "Whoever wins this one will probably get that wee bit more confidence to go on and push on. I do think that has a big factor in what's going to happen.

"You could flip it and say, 'is it going to take a wee bit of confidence away because you've potentially knocked your biggest rival out to go and get a trophy? So are you going to focus a wee bit on that as well?'

"The other team can then pack that away because they can't do anything about it anymore and then focus on the league."

One player Lovenkrands has kept his eye on is Rangers' January loan signing, and compatriot, Andreas Skov Olsen - and believes he just needs one big performance to ignite his season.

"He's trying to find his feet," added the Dane. "It's a hard one for him because it's a short loan. Everybody expects him to come in and do something from the start.

"I know what he can do. He's done it in Denmark, scored 20-odd goals in a season. He is a goalscorer, he can create assists. He just needs to get back to that. And it's just a matter of time, I think.

"It's not easy to expect him to come in and just be amazing from the start. It's the worst thing for a Danish winger to come in to Rangers - everybody's expecting him to be as good as Brian Laudrup.

"So that pressure doesn't help. But he has potential to be great. I just hope he needs a game where everything clicks for him."

For Celtic great Sir Kenny Dalglish, his former club's hopes are boosted by having a manager in the dugout with an abundance of experience.

During Wilfried Nancy's short reign of six defeats in eight games, few would have thought the side would still have a chance of winning a double this season.

Dalglish, who had a four-month spell as interim manager following John Barnes' departure in 2000, believes the club made the right call in turning to Martin O'Neill for a third spell, but has also been impressed by Rangers head coach Danny Rohl.

"Wilfried Nancy only lasted 33 days - even I lasted longer than that," said Dalglish. "So, for [O'Neill] to come in and do it, it had to be done, and he did a fantastic job then. He's picked it up again and off he goes.

"Whoever thought up the idea of Martin coming back, I think they deserve a whole lot of credit as well because he's done a fantastic job for them.

"Danny Rohl's done well, too. He had a lot to pick up and both of them have been excellent."

Celtic fans have been given around 7,500 tickets in the Broomloan Stand for cup encounter - the largest away allocation in the derby for eight years.

That decision was welcomed by both Lovenkrands and Dalglish, who said the atmosphere is always at its best when both sides can be heard.

"The best venue is at Hampden where it's 50-50," admitted Dalglish. "It's like a wedding cake, you just cut it straight down the middle and you get two different colours. It's the biggest game in Scottish football.

"The more it's 50-50, or the closer it gets to 50-50, the better the atmosphere will be. And it'll be pretty hot on Sunday I think."

Lovenkrands agrees, and said the difference has been noticed recently when clubs have kept the visiting supporter numbers to a minimum.

He said: "That's one of the things that I've felt that's been missing with the Old Firm for so many years, because the biggest memories I have of these things is the atmosphere from back then, because it was incredible.

"I'm just hoping it's a game with a fantastic atmosphere and it's an exciting game."

Inconsistent results over the course of the season make it a difficult game to predict, even by derby standards.

"I don't know if you could choose between one or the other," Dalglish said. "Somebody's going to have to win, but it might go as far as penalties.

"I think both of them have come on a good bit since the mid-season crisis. It's a special occasion, it's a big, big game."

Lovenkrands cannot separate the sides either but is hopeful they can deliver a cracker of a game.

"We just need to wait and see," he said. "I just don't think you can call who's going to be favourites but it's going to be exciting to see who's going to win it.

"It doesn't matter how badly you've been doing previously, going into an Old Firm game, everything changes.

"You go into the game, there's two teams that know they can do it, both will think they can win the game. Both will go in and go at it."