Wilson calls on Hoops to teach Gers cup lesson

Ex-Celtic defender surprised by dressing room reaction to semis draw

Former Celtic defender Mark Wilson claims his Hoops side would have wanted to teach Rangers a lesson for cheering the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final draw against their Old Firm rivals.

The Light Blues squad were in the Ibrox dressing room following their 4-1 quarter-final win over Falkirk on Sunday when they roared on hearing they had been paired with the holders, while Motherwell were drawn against the winners of the Kilmarnock/Aberdeen replay.

Rangers’ last win over Celtic was on penalties at the semi-final stage two seasons ago and since then the Parkhead side have not lost a domestic cup tie and are on course for a second successive treble.

And in the eight fixtures between the Glasgow giants since the Govan club made the 2016 final, Celtic have won six with two draws which left Wilson surprised by the Gers reaction.

The two sides meet at Ibrox in the Ladbrokes Premiership next Sunday with leaders Celtic six points clear of Rangers with a game in hand.

The former right-back, who played for the Hoops between 2006 and 2012 after beginning his career with Dundee United, said: “I am a wee bit surprised that they were cheering the draw given their recent history against Celtic.

“You would obviously be looking forward to playing them and try to teach them a lesson at Hampden.

“I would have thought the Rangers players would have much preferred an easier route to the final and potentially taking Celtic on then.

“You would think that if Rangers had got result after result (against Celtic) they would be going, ‘yes, you beauty’.

“But when you are just managing to scrape draws and you are viewing those results as big successes then you would have thought they would have wanted to keep them for the final and maybe cause an upset then.

“I still see Celtic winning it. In the big games, especially against Rangers, Celtic have got that edge – but I think there will be a few goals in the game.”

Meanwhile Lee Wallace will play in a bounce game this week as he closes in on his return to action for the Ibrox side.

Boss Graeme Murty has arranged the friendly to bolster fitness where appropriate, and the 30-year-old leftback will be involved.

Club captain Wallace has not featured since he came off against Partick Thistle in September and has been recovering from surgery for a double hernia.

“I have a game arranged at the training ground for those guys who haven’t had many match minutes recently, which is good for us,” Murty said.

“We will get a game in there and make sure they get through that okay. Yes, Lee Wallace will feature in the game this week and we will see about the weekend, we will see how he gets through it.”

Murty confirmed that Declan John will returntotrainingthisweekafterrecovering from a groin complaint which has seen midfielder Andy Halliday filling in for the past two games.

Picture: SNS. Former Celtic defender Mark Wilson was taken aback by Rangers’ reaction to the news that they will face their Old Firm rivals in the Scottish Cup semi-finals next month.