Whatever happens between now and May 28, the title may well have come and gone for Rangers.
But if Michael Beale and his team are to stand any chance at all of reeling Celtic back in, it has to start with a win at Parkhead this weekend. Beale has got things back on the rails at Ibrox since answering their SOS call back in December but the fact that a run of 15 wins out of 16 Premiership games has failed to even put a dent in the nine-point gap at the top is a testament to how strong Ange Postecoglou's defending champions are.
The two Glasgow heavyweights have gone blow for blow and if their collective dominance continues at this level into next season, then we'll be in for an all-timer of a title race. This term, though, it's hard to imagine any set of circumstances that will lead to Celtic dropping ten points from eight games and letting their rivals in through the back door.
Kenny Miller though made the point that there is still plenty to play for even if their chances of winning the league are slim-to-none. They have demons to expel, and if Beale can finish the season having picked up more points than his counterpart across the city since the season resumed, then it will send a clear message that his team aren't messing around.
Another big step they can take towards bridging the gap is simply by winning at Celtic Park. A venue that, let's face it, hasn't been kind to them in recent years.
Since returning to the top flight back in 2016, Rangers' only league wins at Celtic Park have come under Steven Gerrard. Once in the Covid-abridged 2019/20 season that saw them infamously collapse after Christmas, and once on their way to putting that right in romping to the title in 2020/21.
Their inability to win at the home of their rivals has cost them in the years since. They picked up just one point from their games at Parkhead last season, and the killer blow to Gio van Bronckhorst's title hopes came at Ibrox when Tom Rogic and Cameron Carter-Vickers inspired a comeback win that opened the gap to six points with six left to play. Celtic won the league by four points in the end; the same number they took from their derbies at home.
For Rangers, though, it's a theme that stretches back far further than the days of Beale, Van Bronckhorst and Gerrard. Since the turn of the century, they've won just six of the 36 played at Celtic Park. Celtic have won 15 out of 36 at Ibrox.
Rangers have won 17 per cent of their away league games. Celtic have won 42 per cent.
It makes for some grim reading and it's part of the reason that despite the two Glasgow giants' equal league records since Beale took the reins, Celtic are still so heavily fancied heading into their final meeting before the split.
At home, they have shown virtually no signs of weakness; the ease with which Van Bronckhorst's team were dispatched there earlier this season laid bare a gap that Beale has only just begun to show signs of bridging. And the lack of any away fans at Parkhead will only make it that bit more daunting for Beale and his team as they look to win only their seventh league game in Glasgow's east end this side of the century.
It's a big step and arguably an even bigger ask. But it's one they are going to have to take eventually if they want to break their rivals' ever strengthening vice grip on the Premiership title.
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