O'Neill maintains focus on Rangers as Liverpool lie in wait

Scottish Premier League Beating Old Firm rivals remains Celtic's priority despite Uefa Cup distraction

Gerard Houllier and Liverpool can wait. Martin O'Neill has something on his plate today that would put anything on the backburner. With the Uefa Cup tie between the two sides just five days away, most managers could be forgiven for allowing their thoughts to drift towards next Thursday. The Celtic manager knows that is simply not possible as Rangers come to Parkhead to launch a hectic schedule.

Rangers, Liverpool, Rangers, Liverpool. That is the itinerary of O'Neill's side over the next 12 days. Never has one game at a time seemed more like a necessity than a simple managerial mantra.

If Celtic win today, they will cut the gap on their rivals in the title race back down to three points, which, with one game in hand on Alex McLeish's side, could be the decisive step in securing their third successive title. If they lose, not only would they be in jeopardy of seeing their crown slip across Glasgow, they would also have incurred a body blow ahead of the Battle of Britain.

O'Neill admitted yesterday that he cannot separate his plateful of priorities. "It is amazing, given the significance of this particular Old Firm game, that it is almost being given second billing in some quarters," he said. "Not by us. Attractive though the Liverpool games are, there is no one in the dressing room who is thinking of those. We're not worried about the hectic schedule. This is what you are involved in football for."

O'Neill has yet to beat McLeish in the six previous encounters since his counterpart took over from Dick Advocaat at Ibrox, and if he is tired of the statistic being quoted, he is equally confident his side can make it seventh-time lucky.

"If it was possible to lose all four League games against Rangers and still win the title, I would settle for that, and so would Alex McLeish," O'Neill said. "But I know that it is not. We need to win this game simply because it gives us the best chance of getting back into the title race, it would be in our own hands again if we did.

"We could end up at the end of this schedule with nothing. The Uefa Cup run has been great but it will count for nothing unless we win the League."

Few have been quiet in the run-up to this encounter, with plenty of former players coming out to say that a win for Rangers would kill off Celtic, while others predict that O'Neill's first triumph over his Old Firm rival would create a wave his players could ride into the last four of the Uefa Cup.

But probably the most significant contribution came from Andy Goram, the former Rangers and Scotland goalkeeper whose performances in these derbies in the early 90s prompted one of O'Neill's predecessors, Tommy Burns, to state: "It will be written on my tombstone – Andy Goram broke my heart."

Goram suspects that the Celtic goalkeeper, Robert Douglas, whose two blunders on Rangers' last visit to Parkhead in the 3-3 draw last October cost Celtic vital points, could be about to make amends. "Big Robert will admit he has not played too well in recent Old Firm games and the bad news for Rangers is that he is due to play a blinder," Goram said.