Cayleigh blog

Rangers, Celtic to clash in Scottish Cup round five

GLASGOW (AFP) – Rangers and Celtic clash in the Scottish Cup fifth round on Sunday with the winners guaranteed to stay on course for a domestic treble.

The Old Firm will meet at Ibrox just a month after the sides last clashed there in the league.

That day Celtic gained revenge for their 3-1 defeat earlier in the season when a double from Georgios Samaras secured a 2-0 win that sent the Hoops top of the Scottish Premier League.

The victory seemed to kick start Celtic's season and Neil Lennon's side have won six out of the seven games since.

Celtic captain Scott Brown says he wants to add to Rangers' woes by dumping their rivals out of the Scottish Cup as well.

"If you look at our team now, you could maybe say we've moved forward because we have a lot more creative players and goalscorers," he said.

"The players who have come in will learn a lot more from these games. Those who have been in Scotland for a long time will know what Rangers are all about now."

The Hoops have been forced to play the last two games with full-backs Charlie Mulgrew and Mark Wilson in the centre of defence after injuries to Glenn Loovens, Daniel Majstorovic and Thomas Rogne.

And with Darren O'Dea, Jos Hooiveld and Josh Thompson out on loan it has left manager Lennon light on options.

However both Rogne and Majstorovic have returned to training and could feature on Sunday but James Forrest and Shaun Maloney will miss out.

Rangers also have their injury worries after influential midfielder Lee McCulloch limped out of their 1-0 win over Hearts on Wednesday while Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic missed the match with a groin strain.

But assistant manager Ally McCoist says he is hopeful of having Jelavic available for the tie.

"Jelavic is a lot better," said McCoist. "It has been natural progress and he is feeling a lot better today, so we will be giving him right up until the match and we are very hopeful he will be involved.

"Lee McCulloch is going for a scan, but I would hazard a guess and say he would be extremely doubtful. It would be a big blow to lose him. He has been a big player for us, but that's the nature of it.

"You need winners in Old Firm games and Lee is one of them, but we have a team full of winners, so we are hopeful it won't be too much of a problem if he doesn't make it.

"Celtic have been on a good run and we have maybe not been firing on all cylinders, but we are confident we can win the game.

"With the personnel we have available, we feel we can get a victory."

Sunday's match could see Old Firm debuts handed to new Rangers signings David Healy, Kyle Bartley and El-Hadji Diouf, who is sure for a hot reception after he was fined at Glasgow Sheriff Court in 2003 after being convicted of spitting at a Celtic fan in a UEFA Cup between the Hoops and his then side Liverpool.

Sunday

Rangers v Celtic, Aberdeen v Dunfermline