Camara refuses to write off Rangers' chances

Mo Camara believes Celtic cannot write off Rangers’ championship hopes this season – even if they fall 15 points behind this weekend.

That is the stark reality facing Rangers following a turbulent campaign which sees manager Alex McLeish fighting to save his job.

He has been given three games, against Celtic, Porto and Hibernian, to transform the fortunes of the club before his position is reviewed by chairman David Murray in early December.

But, despite troubled times at Ibrox, Camara insists Celtic are not getting carried away by their own rise to the top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

He said: “You would never say it would be over for Rangers if we win, but it would be hard for them to come back afterwards.

“You never say never, we can only carry on working hard and playing as well as we are at the moment.

“At the moment we have won a few games, but we have not really won anything yet. Being champions of Scotland would be great.”

McLeish will have to show his mettle over the next few weeks and could take a few tips from Camara.

The Hoops star was written off when he arrived at Parkhead in the summer but has finally found his feet at his new club and puts his fighting spirit down to his upbringing in Africa.

He said: “I come from Africa and I have always been fighting and have always needed to be strong. I have to pay for my life every day.

“Every morning I wake up and I need to accept that sometimes I will play well, sometimes I won’t. You have to forget the last game.”

Camara’s on-field performances hide the pain he has been forced to endure in his private life.

He is restricted to seeing his 18-month-old baby, who lives in England, at weekends and has lost two brothers and his father.

But he credits his brother Nabi, who passed away two years ago, with making his dream of becoming a footballer a reality.

He added: “When I was younger my family did not want me playing football because everyone was encouraged to go to school.

“I did not want to go to school because I wanted to play football, that was my dream when I was a kid.

“My mum and dad said, no, you need to carry on and all they said was ‘you need to go to school, you need to go to school’.

“But the brother I lost told them to leave me alone. If he likes it and wants to play, he would say, let him.

“So sometimes when we win a big game or before a big game I think of him. I believe I owe him so much because he was my inspiration.

“I wish he had seen me play for Celtic, but maybe he is watching me in a different way now. Definitely.”