“If we play the way we can play, we can beat anyone" - tepid battle fever from Rangers as Celtic examination looms

It has become traditional among many within the Rangers’ legions to talk of getting the battle fever on before a major occasion.

Rangers' Malik Tillman celebrates after netting the final goal in his club's 3-0 win over Motherwell and he is straight about what will point the way towards victory in Monday's derby encounter against Celtic. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

It seems that the only fever present in the body politic of Rangers ahead of Monday’s new year derby, though, takes the form of coming out in hives at the prospect of what might unfold against Celtic. The Scottish champions are in imperious form as the Ibrox hosts that trail them by nine points – by their own manager Michael Beale’s admission – have been serving up inauspicious displays.

It isn’t simply that there have been no brash pronouncements from the Rangers camp over avenging the 4-0 drubbing they suffered when the two tribes last went at it, at Celtic Park, three months ago. There has been little uttered from the south side of Scotland’s football capital that could be construed as quiet confidence. At this point, Beale has achieved all that could have been justifiably expected of him since replacing Giovanni van Bronckhorst as manager four-and-a-half weeks ago through digging out four straight league wins, a sequence that equalled the longest such run produced by the club across this current campaign. However, it is considerably more modest than the 12 top-flight victories on the spin that Ange Postecoglou’s men will look to extend in a confrontation that could effectively end any doubt about the destination of the title.

The contrast perhaps played a part in the affable but diffident Malik Tillman picking his words carefully over what provides Rangers with belief that they could cut the gap on Celtic next week. The Bayern Munich on-loan attacker pointed to the “mentality” that allowed Beale’s men to mount comebacks for the successes over Hibs and Aberdeen in recent weeks, the Pittodrie victory earned by two goals in the closing minutes of the eight added on at the end of that encounter. Asked if it was this same mentality that would be required in the derby, the 20-year-old didn’t exactly offer up a ringing endorsement of Rangers’ status in the domestic domain. “If we reach our level we are one of the best teams in the league, or even the best team,” Tillman said. “Obviously, we’ll try to win and [start to] turn around things in the Old Firm.”

It was only when it came to the learnings required from his first, bitter, taste of the fixture, that the US international found it in himself to offer the sort of conviction that will be required from the home side on Monday. “We just need to reach our level,” the Rangers forward said. “If we play the way we can play, we can beat anyone. We just have to focus on our game and that’s it.”

For all the understandable apprehensions over what could pan out on Monday – and that is from both sides, deep down, as a consequence of the enmity-fuelled fixture the one above all other their followers simply do not tolerate coming up short in – Tillman acknowledges the only global game that Scottish football has to offer requires to be relished. By those in the stands as well as the pitch, he ventures. “It’s a big game in Glasgow,” said the player. “We unfortunately lost the first game and we have to do a way better job than we did. If we reach our level we can beat them. Also, in front of our fans, we need them as well. If they do a good job, we will do a great job as well.”