O’Neill urges Celts to stay cool

CELTIC manager Martin O’Neill has urged his players to keep their cool in the white-hot atmosphere of the Old Firm derby at Ibrox. Referees have brandished 32 yellow and two red cards in the last six meetings between Celtic and Rangers.

And O'Neill, who was handed a two-game UEFA ban himself this week after a dismissal against Celta Vigo last week, has called for calm ahead of the Ibrox showdown.

O'Neill said: ''Discipline is very important and one thing I want to do is make sure everybody is on the field of play by the end of the game.

''That is important especially with the inflammatory atmosphere like an Old Firm game, so discipline is so important for everyone.''

But O'Neill insists he does not care if he cannot end Alex McLeish's hoodoo over the Hoops on the field this year just as long as his side retain the championship.

The Celtic manager has not defeated Rangers under McLeish in five attempts since the former Scotland international took over the Ibrox hotseat a year ago.

The Light Blues defeated their Glasgow rivals in the Scottish Cup final and CIS Insurance Cup semi last season to take some of the gloss off their second consecutive title success.

But the Celtic boss maintains keeping the Premier League trophy at Parkhead out-weighs any desire to defeat Rangers and McLeish.

Celtic are a point clear of Rangers at the top of SPL table and are set for a tough UEFA Cup third round, second leg against Celta Vigo in midweek where they will defend a 1-0 lead.

But O'Neill laughs off suggestions that two defeats this week would end the team's season.

O'Neill said: ''People were saying this was a crucial period before the first Blackburn Rovers game. Then we went down there with people talking about how the Old Firm would handle it down south but there wasn't much talk about it afterwards when we went through.

''Now we have beaten a side who are fourth in the Spanish League so we are not doing too badly."

O'Neill recognises defeat for Rangers would not end their interest in re-capturing the SPL crown. O'Neill said: ''If we won, we would go four points clear and, if we lost, then we would go two points behind with half the season to go.

''It will come down to luck on the afternoon. But I do know that we are a decent side and so are Rangers.''

Henrik Larsson seems set to play despite contracting a virus in midweek, but Chris Sutton is O'Neill's biggest doubt. Sutton missed training with his team-mates today and the defender claims that Celtic need him and their best players available to get the result.

Bobo Balde is also hoping to recover from a midweek knock.

Meanwhile, Rangers defender Arthur Numan believes the Old Firm derby is even more important now than when he joined the club four years ago.

The Dutchman has watched as the gulf between Rangers and Celtic and the other 10 clubs in the Scottish Premier League has grown even greater.

The left-back insists it is still vital to take points from those clubs in order to challenge Celtic for the league championship. But, with Celtic providing the only real challenge in the domestic game, Numan insists taking all three points from such meetings is even more crucial now.

He said: ''I think they are more important now because you can see the gap between the Old Firm and the rest of the teams is getting bigger and bigger. You can't afford to lose too many points against the other teams either.

''The gap between Rangers and Celtic is just one point now and both teams go all out every week to get the three points because, at the end of the campaign, it could cost you the title.

''So we approach every game in same way, we concentrate and we try to take the three points.

''Of course, the Old Firm is a special game because it doesn't matter if one team is in good shape or not once you're on the pitch it's just about those 90 minutes.''