Rangers and Celtic Prepare for Crucial League Matches

The Old Firm rarely need much help to dominate a Scottish Premiership weekend, but this time the build-up writes itself.

Rangers at home to St Mirren. Celtic away to St Johnstone. Both on Wednesday. Both with the table, the mood and the first derby of the season on the line.

By Sunday night at Ibrox, one of them will be out of the Premier Sports Cup. Before that, they have to get through two awkward league assignments that could either harden their edge or expose a few nerves.

Rangers chasing rhythm – and St Mirren

Four wins on the spin. That is the immediate target for Rangers and Derek McInnes, and if they get it, the Premiership table will look reassuringly familiar again.

Right now, they sit behind St Mirren on goal difference. That alone tells you how sharp the Paisley side have been out of the blocks.

Craig McLeish has dragged them into a different gear. A more fluid style, more ambition with the ball, and enough end product to earn him the Premiership manager of the month award for August. He is not exactly shocked by the speed of the transformation.

"I'm not surprised it's come together so quickly - I get that from the outside it might look like that," he said. "There's an internal belief about what we're doing and the work we can do on the pitch. It could have been even better and we were close to it being even better."

The belief is real. The scars are too. St Mirren have already been to Ibrox this season and were taken apart in the Premier Sports Cup, Rangers rattling in five and barely letting them breathe.

That afternoon doubled as James Penrice’s introduction to the Rangers support. The left-back scored one, set up another and has not looked back. He has started every game since, as have centre-backs Olwethu Makhanya and Emmanuel Fernandez. The latter still has the odd shaky moment, but the continuity at the back has underpinned the recent upturn.

Motherwell discovered as much on Saturday. They barely laid a glove on Rangers, who created enough chances to win by more than one but had to settle for a narrow victory. It followed wins over Aberdeen and Falkirk and, slowly, the mood is lifting.

McInnes can feel it, even if he knows exactly how fragile it is.

"I don't think that ever lifts until you've got a trophy in your hand," he said of the pressure. "But I do think there's been a good feel about the place. What we have had in recent weeks is just small steps, encouragement, confidence levels."

The timing of Lawrence Shankland’s injury could hardly be worse. Just as the striker had rediscovered his touch, he is out, and that puts the spotlight on Kevin Kelsy. The new arrival would probably have preferred a gentle bedding-in. He will not get it.

Rangers have edged the last two league meetings with St Mirren by a single goal, but before that the Buddies went four unbeaten in this fixture. They know how to make it awkward. They also know they were outplayed in midfield in that cup tie at Ibrox last month.

This time, they are missing Paul Nsio. The on-loan midfielder is ineligible against his parent club, and without his bite, Rangers may again find space where it matters most.

St Mirren showed against Celtic at the weekend that they can control large parts of a game. They were impressive between both boxes in Paisley but lacked a ruthless finish. Against a Rangers side that has started to tighten up, that wastefulness could be fatal.

Celtic grind, reshuffle and head for Perth

Celtic’s domestic record is spotless so far, even if the route has not always been pretty. They have had to shake off a Champions League qualifying bruising in Austria, integrate a flurry of late-window signings and still keep winning.

The latest example came in Paisley. They fell behind, were nowhere near their fluent best, but still found a way to turn it round. Yang Hyun-jun lit the game up, his energy and direct running capped by the decisive goal.

He will not be around to build on it. Yang has joined up with South Korea for the Asian Games, leaving Martin O'Neill to reshuffle again.

That is where the dilemma starts. Camilo Duran has been on a tear through the middle – three goals and two assists in his last three games as a centre-forward. Shunting him wide to cover Yang would blunt Celtic’s central threat just as it has started to look menacing.

If O'Neill does move Duran, on-loan Chelsea striker Shim Mheuka is waiting for a first start after a couple of cameos from the bench. Of the six players who arrived in the frantic final 48 hours of the window, only Mheuka and Oliver Sorensen have seen any action so far. Sebastian Tounekti, more of a natural wide option, may be the safer, tidier plug-in for Yang.

There is more help on the way. Striker Kasper Hogh and left-back Kieran Tierney are both back in contention after short injury lay-offs, adding depth just as the schedule begins to tighten.

Celtic will need all of it at McDiarmid Park. St Johnstone are chasing a third straight home league win and they will not sit in and hope. O'Neill expects a team that wants the ball and wants to play through the phases.

"They want to play football as well and they're committed," he said. "There's a vitality about them which is very encouraging. Not dissimilar in many aspects to what Craig McLeish is doing at St Mirren."

The numbers back it up. Three of Josh Fowler’s four goals have come in Perth, and his movement has given St Johnstone a genuine cutting edge on home turf. On the right, local boy Taylor Steven has been whipping in the kind of crosses that defenders hate, as Hibs discovered in their recent defeat.

At the other end, Cheick Diabate and Zach Mitchell bring an old-school edge at centre-back. They attack everything, they block everything, and they will not shy away from putting their heads where it hurts. For all that commitment, Saints are still hunting their first league clean sheet of the campaign.

Head coach Simo Valakari knows exactly what they are up against.

"We need to do our football things so well, then at the same time, we need to earn our luck, because against Celtic, if you want to beat them, you need to be a little bit lucky in some moments," the Finn said.

He has history on his side, if not much of it. O'Neill has not managed in Perth for 25 years, but Celtic’s most recent visit ended in a jolt – a home win for St Johnstone in April 2025, one of the few bright days in a season that still ended in relegation.

That memory will be fresh enough in the stands to give McDiarmid Park an edge. Celtic arrive as champions, unbeaten, still bedding in a new-look squad. St Johnstone arrive with confidence, a clear identity and nothing to lose.

Rangers and Celtic both have jobs to do before they turn on each other on Sunday. By the time they walk out at Ibrox for that Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, will they be striding in with momentum – or nursing doubts that a derby will ruthlessly expose?