THOSE high rollers who have persistently plunged on Celtic in Old Firm matches on the basis that they must collect eventually are seriously overdue a return.

In the Tennents Scottish Cup quarter-final between the Glasgow giants at Celtic Park tonight, Rangers attempt to protect an unbeaten run in the fixture which stretches back nine matches over the past two seasons.

This includes victories in all three of the Premier Division matches played so far this season and those results would lead anyone to assume that a fancy price should be available about Tommy Burns's side.

Yet when the odds compilers come to assess this collision, a peculiar logic is employed, one which seems to dismiss all previous evidence as inadmissible. The result is, they are inseparable at 13-8 each.

Rangers may look a little more vulnerable - and certainly less menacing - than usual because of the absence of the injured Paul Gascoigne, and their performance in the 2-2 draw at Aberdeen last Saturday was marked by an uncharacteristic ineffectiveness which almost hinted at jadedness.

Yet Walter Smith's side are undefeated in 13 games since December 10th and the manager himself emphasised yesterday that his players have invariably responded satisfactorily to the demands of the big occasion.

Richard Gough, captain and pillar of the central defence, was missing at Pittodrie and there is concern over his availability tonight. He will have a fitness test today and, with a 10-day gap between the cup tie and the Old Firm league meeting, also at Celtic Park, Smith is likely to field Gough in any case.

In the matter of winning rather than saving the match, however, Brian Laudrup will be more significant than any other player to Smith. If, in the absence of Gascoigne, the Dane drops his standards, the Ibrox side's capacity for inflicting damage is seriously diminished.

"But the first season I was at Ibrox, I played without Gascoigne, so I can do so again," said Laudrup yesterday. "In any case, you have to play as a team in these matches to win. I mean, if I play very well and the others don't, we won't win.

"These are tough games, but I always enjoy them. I've played in so many now that nothing can surprise me. In fact, the last one at Celtic Park, when we won 1-0, was one of the best matches I've been involved in. There were so many chances and so much good football that night."

In fact, Gascoigne missed a penalty and Pierre van Hooijdonk did the same at the other end for Celtic in a match which also featured startlingly bad misses by Rangers' Petervan Vossen and Celtic's Morten Wieghorst.

None of those four is likely. to start tonight, but Burns may seek to make things a little tougher in defence by playing Enrico Annoni, the Italian signed recently from AS Roma who made his debut against Hearts last weekend.

With Tom Boyd suspended and Jackie McNamara virtually certain to be missing because of injury, the Celtic manager has limited options in defence

There is also anxiety over the fitness of the midfielders, Paul McStay and Peter Grant, who both missed the Hearts game. If they are both still unavailable, Andreas Thom could once again become an important item. Within Paolo di Canio and Jorge Cagete, the German has the talent to cause pain among the visiting support, but he has had an inconsistent season, troubled by injury and loss of form.

Perhaps the likeliest outcome of a difficult night will be a replay at Ibrox on Wednesday week.