Jack Butland reacts to what people are saying about Rangers and Celtic
Rangers have endured a difficult Scottish Premiership season and are still 13 points behind league leaders Celtic despite their 3-2 triumph in the Old Firm Derby last time out.
Barry Ferguson’s men thoroughly enjoyed Hamza Igamane’s late winner on Sunday 16 March, but they will be unable to win the Premiership title this term with just eight matches left to play.
Ferguson still has a key opportunity to boost his chances of becoming the Gers’ next permanent boss though as his side remain in the Europa League.
La Liga outfit Bilbao stand in the way of Rangers and the quarter-finals, where they could meet either Lyon or Manchester United.
Jack Butland plays down the gap between Celtic and Rangers
Rangers supporters believe the incoming takeover by 49ers Enterprises will bolster their chances of eclipsing Celtic to the Premiership title next term.
But Butland has suggested that the gap is not as wide as it is perceived to be and told the Daily Record (28 March): “The last part of this season is very much about winning as many games as we can.
“The target is obviously to win all of them including beating Celtic at home.
“We need to keep winning, we need to finish the season on a high.
“Whatever gap people want to put there, there are reasons why, go ahead, but we don’t believe that there is a big gap.
“As the league sits, there’s a gap that we need to close and we need to try to do that before the end of the season.
“It’s now about beating Dundee at the weekend, and that’s as simple as that.
“If we don’t do that, then the Celtic week is almost irrelevant.
“So it’s back to business now.”
Ferguson will look to continue strong Rangers form
Under the stewardship of interim boss Ferguson, the Bears have now won three of their last five games, including their notable Old Firm triumph.
| Opponent | Result |
| Kilmarnock (A) | 2-4 W |
| Motherwell (H) | 1-2 L |
| Fenerbahce (A) | 1-3 W |
| Fenerbahce (H) | 0-2 L (Rangers won on penalties) |
| Celtic (A) | 2-3 W |
Rangers’ 2-0 home defeat to Fenerbahce, meanwhile, will be better remembered for the fact that the Light Blues negotiated their way through to the Europa League quarter-finals via a penalty shootout, having emerged as 3-1 winners in the first leg in Turkiye.
The only poor result of Ferguson’s tenure so far arrived on Saturday, 1 March, when the Light Blues were defeated 2-1 by Motherwell.
But having established a strong vein of form, it is now vital that Rangers can keep their momentum going heading into April when they have their Europa League quarter-final tie with Bilbao.
The Gers will also be particularly keen to deliver supporters with their first home win since 2 February when they host Hibernian on Saturday, 5 April.
Meanwhile, as alluded to by Butland, Rangers will be eager to get the better of Celtic once more in the next Old Firm clash.