Celtic's confidence before tomorrow's Old Firm match at Ibrox seems strange for a team who were defeated 2-1 by their fiercest rivals in the Scottish Cup semi-finals only a week ago. Despite injuries to important players, there was an unmistakable bounce about the head coach Wim Jansen yesterday.

With a three-point lead in the Premier Division, a win or a draw would be perfectly acceptable. For Rangers, victory appears to be the only option. To drop six points behind with only four matches remaining would surely leave the defending champions in an irretrievable position.

Jansen even seemed sanguine about the injuries that prevented the defenders Tom Boyd and Enrico Annoni and the midfielder Morten Wieghorst from training. "We will see what tomorrow brings, but we are hopeful," said the Dutchman. Midfielder Jackie McNamara, missing from the last three matches, has fully recovered.

Rangers manager Walter Smith, who has lost his central defender Gordan Petric to injury, will play the Italian Lorenzo Amoruso from the start.