Rangers are dangerous, warns Erik

FOR Erik Sviatchenko, a Rangers side still smarting from last month’s 5-1 Old Firm demolition derby at Celtic Park represents a clear and present danger.

To suggest, however, that the notion of revenge in tomorrow’s Betfred Cup semi-final dominates only one side of the Glasgow divide would be completely incorrect.

The last time Celtic and Rangers met at Hampden, it was Mark Warburton’s men who had the last laugh in the Scottish Cup semi-final clash.

After a thrilling 2-2 draw, the Ibrox side, en route to the Championship title, prevailed 5-4 on penalty kicks against a Celtic team stuttering their way towards being crowned champions of Scotland again.

To Sviatchenko, it was a truly bittersweet day, the elation of a headed goal on his Old Firm debut more than offset by the despair of a damaging defeat that ultimately spelled the end for beleaguered boss Ronny Deila.

Now under the management of Brendan Rodgers, the Danish international defender is hoping his side can replicate last month’s powerful Parkhead Old Firm performance to make amends for that abject April cup exit.

But the 25-year-old cautions Celtic fans heading towards the national stadium not to turn up expecting a repeat of that 5-1 September score.

‘I scored the last time we played Rangers in a semi-final at Hampden. I remember it clearly,’ recalled Sviatchenko. ‘It was an afternoon of mixed emotions, up and down.

‘Hopefully, this weekend we can do better than we did that day.

‘We have already shown in the league against Rangers what we are all about. And if we can put in the same kind of performance as we did at Celtic Park last month, it will be a good day.

‘But Rangers are a good team as well and it will be a tough game. Will they still be hurting? It might make them a little more dangerous, yes.

‘It’s all about intensity and how much effort we put into the game.

‘When we are at our best, when we are intense and pushing high against our opponents, then every team we face will have a problem.

‘I wouldn’t say that Celtic fans should expect (another 5-1 win) but they can expect a team that will do everything they can to be the best.’ One Celtic player who will have added motivation to put in a strong performance against Rangers tomorrow is Kolo Toure. The experienced former Liverpool and Arsenal defender admitted he had made the mistakes of a 16-year-old in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 2-0 Champions League win at Celtic Park on Wednesday night. The 35-year-old had been so impressive for Celtic this season up until the schoolboy defending that led to goals for Lars Stindl and Andreas Hahn that leaves his side’s hopes of European football after Christmas hanging by a slender thread. But defensive colleague Sviatchenko has backed Toure to bounce back stronger at Hampden tomorrrow. ‘Kolo will recover,’ he said. ‘He’s 35. It’s not the first time in his career that he has made a mistake. It could easily have been another player and we have to remember Kolo has saved us from conceding goals in other matches. ‘It won’t be hard to lift ourselves for the semi-final on Sunday. It’s a big game and if you don’t have what it takes to be ready for a game like Sunday, then you should not be playing football. We will be okay. ‘We are professional players and whether it was against Rangers or Motherwell tomorrow, we’ll be ready. ‘I believe the team will be on our game against Rangers because we all want to make it to the final.’ Sviatchenko (below) admits that Celtic’s pressing game against Gladbach was not as impressive as in the 3-3 Champions League stalemate with Manchester City. But tomorrow’s match is just Rodgers’ 20th in charge of the Scottish champions and the defender believes some patience is required. ‘It’s true, we didn’t stress the back four of Borussia Monchengladbach as much as we did with Manchester City,’ said the Dane. ‘We were lower in the park against Gladbach whereas against Manchester City we were much higher up the field. ‘But it’s difficult to compare games. The manager is still fairly new. ‘You will see this new Celtic team coming up but we need to accept it will take time, even if we want it to happen in a split second. ‘I believe this team, in the months and in the years ahead, will be much better. ‘You can already see that we are improving all the time. We are all working hard towards becoming a better team.’