Old Firm derby not 'do or die' - Raskin
· Yahoo Sports
Rangers midfielder Nicolas Raskin insists the derby meeting with Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday is not "do or die" in the race for the Scottish Premiership title but admits it would be a "massive push" for the victor.
Danny Rohl's side lie two points clear of Celtic having played one game more and four adrift of leaders Hearts going into the weekend fixtures.
Visit sport-newz.biz for more information.
Rangers are unbeaten in their last four meetings with Celtic at Ibrox, albeit it three have been draws, with their last defeat coming in September 2023
"It's a massive game for the club," Raskin said.
"It's just an exciting fixture. It's a fixture you look ahead to when the calendar comes out. But again, it's three points, like the next one and the next one. So, it's just making sure we get the win and then we look forward to the next one."
"Obviously, if you win the game, you get a boost of confidence. I think the one that's going to win [the title] is the one that's going to be the more calm, whether it's in the squad or whether it's in the building because there are still 10 games to be played. Loads of things can happen.
"It's not going to be do or die tomorrow or Sunday. But obviously it's going to be a massive push for the one that wins."
Raskin, who was left out of the squad by former head coach Russell Martin the last time the teams met at Ibrox, admits it has been quite a transformation since the start of the campaign to now be in contention for the Scottish Premiership title.
"It was a big turnaround," he said. "I think the manager is a big part of this. He brought us freshness, calmness, stability and some confidence.
"It's really good to see where we came from to now but we need to make sure we keep going because there's no point in doing all this to just lose everything now.
"So, that's why we're now focused on the last ten games and we need to make sure we make it."
Raskin was keen to avoid adding additional pressure when asked to respond to comments made by Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan that no team in Scotland could touch the champions when they are on form.
"I don't need to respond to that," he said. "I just don't care. I can't lie. We just focus on ourselves..
"We go to the game, we know what we want to do. There's no need to put pressure on us saying we are the best.
"It's just about who's going to show it on the pitch and who's going to win that game. That's it.
"I think the last couple of games against them in the league shows that we've been quite consistent in those games.
"Obviously the momentum now is different than we had last season. So, we are quite confident to go into that game and we know what to do."