Gordon Strachan reckons there's three things that go in Rangers' favour ahead of the Scottish Cup showdown at Hampden - including neutral BALL BOYS.
But the former Celtic boss reckons the "fitness and attitude" of Michael Beale's stars could let them down again - questioning whether they can go toe-to-toe with their rivals for 90 minutes. The two Glasgow giants go head-to-head at the national stadium with Celtic hoping to keep their Treble hopes alive while Gers are determined to stop that in its' tracks and give themselves a chance of lifting a trophy this season.
It's been billed as a defining game for Beale who is yet to get one over on Ange Postecoglou across the city in his three derbies so far. The Hoops will be favourites especially after Rangers' defeat to Aberdeen at the weekend but Strachan reckons there are some small mercies they can lean on which could help them pick up a result. One of which being the ball boys not acting as quickly.
Asked by Casinosite.nl if Rangers had any "advantages" at Hampden, he said: "The pitch at Hampden always seems bigger. I think there’s a couple of yards either way, which funnily enough can make a big difference and might help Rangers. But the other fact which might help Rangers is the ball boys are neutral and aren’t ‘on either team’ so to speak. Because at Celtic the ball boys are part of the team.
"The number of times you watch and the television cameras can’t keep up with it. The ball goes out and you think ‘I can have a rest’ but you look up and the game’s on again! The pitch is a bit softer at Hampden as well. There’s a softness to it, so there are some things in Rangers’ favour.”
On the flipside though he reckons Celtic have a fitness advantage that might well be a "problem" for Rangers once again. He believes that edge decided the Viaplay Cup final and could do so again come Sunday.
Strachan went on: "There’s plenty of talented players at Rangers but do they have the fitness level and the attitude that the team comes first if they don’t play for 90 minutes? That’s the criteria to play for Celtic, so that might be a problem for some Rangers players. I watched the League Cup final myself and it was very close like most people thought.
"But what happened after about 38 minutes was Rangers’ fitness levels went, which allowed Celtic to dominate the last 10 minutes of the half. That shows how important fitness is. That’s the test for anyone that plays against Celtic. If you’re not super fit you’ll run out of energy and if you do close them down and win the ball comes back, do you have the energy to play again?
"That’s what the Celtic players can do. That’s what the top teams like Manchester City do.”
READ NEXT
