Rangers icon issues rallying cry for Celtic fixture as stakes remain high despite title race capitulation
There is still a lot riding on the last Old Firm Derby of the season for Danny Rohl’s side
Rangers hero Mark Hateley claims that his old side still have much to play for in their last three remaining fixtures, starting with Sunday’s grudge match away to Celtic.
Rangers’ 2-1 defeat to Hearts put them seven points behind the league leaders with only three games to go, while they now trail Celtic by four. As they slowly drop out of the race, Hateley believes that their reaction to the Tynecastle woe will tell manager Danny Rohl a lot about his players and may even have a bearing on who stays and who goes in the summer.
The former Coventry and Leeds United man won 11 major trophies during his six years at Ibrox and is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the club’s history. From here on in, Hateley would like to see Rangers finish on a high for the fans. After the Old Firm, they face Hibs at home, and then Falkirk away on the final day.
Old Firm could decide some Rangers star’s futures - Hateley
Rangers still aren’t mathematically out of contention yet and according to Hateley, should need no extra motivation anyway going into an Old Firm match at Celtic Park. He told NetBet online betting: “You don't need to get yourself up for an Old Firm game, that sorts itself out. Fans, players. I'm going to say players should love to play in these games. It's a great place to go away from home.
“In the hostile environment, this is where you get to know your players. Especially after a result against Hearts, you're going to go to your biggest rivals, and mathematically it's still not done. This is, again, where Danny will learn a lot about some of his players in this game. So there's a lot on the table still, I'm going to say, for players, for futures, careers at the football club, and it's always there.”
Adding to Rangers’ motivations for Sunday is that they can also scupper their bitter rivals chances of league glory. The league could easily go down to the final day fixture between Celtic and Hearts at Parkhead, but a Rangers win on Sunday could mean it doesn’t go that far, if Hearts win their other fixtures.
‘90-minute performance’ needed for fans
Rangers have started to become a one-half team in recent weeks, going back to the last league Old Firm at Ibrox, where they blew a comfortable 2-0 lead for the visitors to equalise late. Again at Tynecastle on Monday, the Gers were up at half time through Dujon Sterling before Hearts’ Stephen Kingsley and Lawrence Shankland turned the game on its head. Hateley believes they have to be on it for the entire game if they want something from Parkhead.
He continued: "The emotional ride they've had this season, again, has been incredible. You've still got a couple of games to go after that, but the Old Firm, you need to put that one to bed. On last performances there, we've done pretty well there away from home. So hopefully they can put a performance together that Danny is looking for, a 90-minute performance."