King claims Celtic gap should have been wider

DAVE KING claims Celtic have missed an opportunity to move further ahead of Rangers. Under Brendan Rodgers, the Parkhead side finished the Scottish season unbeaten, won a domestic Treble, qualified for the Champions League and finished 39 points clear of their city rivals following a final 5-1 victory at Ibrox. Confident a revamped Rangers side can give Celtic a run for their money next season, however, the Ibrox chairman believes the gap could have been wider. ‘In footballing terms, I don’t think Celtic are as far ahead as they could have been — certainly with our new signings,’ claimed King, with Rangers last night confirming three-year deals for Mexican duo Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera. ‘Given that we were in the wilderness for four years, I don’t think that Celtic did as much in

those four years as they could have done. ‘We are clearly behind them squad-wise — but I really would expect to give them a run. You never know how the season is going to go — and I certainly don’t expect a repeat of last season.’ Despite a significantly bigger playing budget, Rangers finished nine points behind second-placed Aberdeen and King expects that to change after manager Pedro Caixinha was granted cash to bring in a raft of new players. ‘For the resources we had relative to Aberdeen, we should have been somewhere in between them and Celtic,’ added King. ‘If we had been 16 points behind Celtic and 16 ahead of them (Aberdeen), that would be right in terms of us outspending (them). ‘For us to finish so dismally behind Aberdeen was very disappointing, especially as we had made resources available.’ Meanwhile, midfielder Pena, 27, joins from Liga MX side Guadalajara in his homeland, while 28-year-old striker Herrera joins from Mexican outfit Pumas. ‘I have been waiting for this move for many years now,’ Pena told RangersTV. ‘I wanted to become part of European football and I hope I will be able to make my own contribution to the team.’