Raskin has revenge on his mind at Hampden

NICO RASKIN insists Rangers are itching for revenge over Celtic after watching the Hampden celebrations of their bitter rivals after the Viaplay Cup final. The Belgian midfielder was a second-half substitute when Rangers slid to a 2-1 defeat to Ange Postecoglou’s side in February. Insisting he loved everything about the League Cup final except the final outcome, Raskin told Sky Sports: ‘The atmosphere was great, the half-and-half stadium was great, now we want to make our fans proud. ‘The last time we lost this game and it was painful to see them enjoying it with their fans and see our fans sad. We will go for it. I am waiting to play in the Old Firm game at our stadium, I have played there (at Celtic Park) and Hampden. ‘You can feel the atmosphere, it is great. When you have 60,000 that are so passionate you can feel it, it is something you don’t see in every country. ‘You need to see it and feel it to understand what it is.’ Thirteen points clear at the summit of the Premiership, Celtic have yet to lose to Rangers in four meetings of the teams this season. Desperate to end both the run of defeats and any hope of a Parkhead treble, Raskin (above) admitted: ‘It’s very important for two reasons. We need to win something for the season and it is our last chance. And also we want to win against them. ‘We’ve now lost two games (against Celtic) since I came. I think the last game was close. We are not too far from them. ‘I’m sure we can do something in the semi-final. I’m sure if we play our best we can do something good. We have to go there with a strong mentality and go for it.’ Joining Rangers from Standard Liege in January, the 22-year-old has had to adapt to breaking down defensive opponents in the SPFL. Likely to enjoy more space to attack against Celtic, Raskin is acclimatising to life in Scottish football. ‘I’ve learned that the standards at Rangers need to be high every day in training,’ he said. ‘For every aspect — nutrition, training or sleep — you need to put your standards higher. I’m trying to do this and improve myself. ‘I wouldn’t say the pace of the game is faster in Scotland than I imagined but it is different. It is a different type of game. ‘Here you can face teams that just go down (deep) and then counterattack, so you need to adapt the way you play. ‘It’s good for me because I am learning to play against a low block and how to create chances against a team playing a low block. ‘It’s never easy for a team to play against a low-block team that defend well. It’s good for me to see every type of team.’