Old Firm Showdown: O'Neill Seeks Final Celtic-Rangers Duel At Parkhead

Martin O'Neill is preparing for what O'Neill expects will be a final Old Firm derby, with Celtic needing victory over Rangers on Sunday to keep real pressure on Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts and also protect a four-point cushion over Rangers, while sitting three points behind Hearts at the top as the title race enters a tense phase.

The meeting at Parkhead will be O'Neill's first Glasgow derby at the stadium in 21 years, adding another layer to a high-stakes encounter, as Celtic look to extend a four-game league winning run and match their best sequence of this season while trying to close the gap on Hearts and keep Rangers at arm's length.

Celtic have not beaten Rangers in six league Old Firm derbies, with three draws and three defeats in that period, and the club last went on a longer winless league run in this fixture between September 1995 and November 1997, when Celtic failed to win any of ten straight league derbies against Rangers.

The current winning streak under O'Neill stands at four league matches, and the longest run this season is five, achieved between October and December during O'Neill's first spell of the campaign after replacing Brendan Rodgers, so Sunday offers the chance to match that mark while also halting Rangers' recent success at Celtic Park.

Rangers took victory on their last Old Firm visit to Parkhead and have collected wins on both of their two most recent league trips to Celtic, matching the total from the previous 19 league journeys to the East End, when Rangers managed two wins, four draws and suffered 13 defeats in that longer stretch.

They will now aim for three successive league away wins at Celtic for the first time since November 1992, achieved under Walter Smith, and Danny Rohl could become only the second Rangers manager, after Smith, to win the first two away league games against Celtic, with Smith taking three straight between 1991 and 1992.

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Old Firm derby Celtic vs Rangers managers' views

O'Neill, now 74, confirmed this weekend is likely to bring the last dugout clash with Rangers, saying: "I would say most likely." O'Neill still wants a strong finish to a third spell with Celtic but has also warned that Rangers may respond like a wounded side after recent setbacks and will be dangerous opponents.

"At home, we have to try and get on the front foot as early as possible and try and win the game.We still feel it's [the title] in our own grasp at this minute. We've got some goals to try and make up, but that's a long way off.It'll be a strong game. Rangers will be coming here, naturally disappointed about last week's result. I thought they played very, very well in the first half of the game and points to prove. There always seems to be points to prove in Old Firm games. I'll expect a strong, strong reaction from Rangers. We've got to be strong ourselves and hopefully we can do that."

Rangers' position could weaken even before kick-off, as Hearts will move further clear if Hearts defeat Motherwell on Saturday, and recent back-to-back league losses against Hearts and Motherwell have already damaged Rohl's side, who now seek a response in a fixture that is central to expectations at Ibrox.

Despite that pressure, the German manager, who insists there is continued commitment to Rangers despite interest from the Bundesliga, believes recent experiences at Parkhead are useful, recalling the previous win after a strong second-half shift and stressing the need to restore higher standards following a difficult seven-day spell.

"It's a special game for us, Rohlsaid. Nobody needs extra motivation to go into this game. We want to make our supporters and fans proud and that means we have to deliver on Sunday. The last game there is a good picture of our last couple of weeks. In the first half, we started well, but then the opponent was better and scored. We adjusted things at half-time and had a plan B. We then turned it to 3-1. We showed we can do that. That's when we really felt the belief that even when things don't go right in a game, we can turn them in the right direction. In the last 15 years we didn't win what we should do, and I think this is a big part of what we have to change. In the last six months, we improved the standards higher and higher. In the last seven days we couldn't, and I think this is a big part of our future. We move now and it gives me, especially also for the new season, a big, big motivation to be better every day, increase the standards and make the step forward."

With Hearts currently leading, Celtic chasing and Rangers trying to stay alive in the title race, Sunday's Old Firm derby at Parkhead brings together recent form, long-running trends and the personal stakes for O'Neill and Rohl, ensuring a contest shaped as much by historical context and managerial decisions as by league mathematics.