Rangers 'not far from' Celtic claim as Nico Raskin details two reasons why Hampden win is a must

Nico Raskin may not have been a Rangers player for long but he already knows that a third successive defeat to arch-rivals Celtic is not an option.

The January arrival's Old Firm record is played two, lost two while Rangers’ wait for a victory in the fixture stretches back to August 2021, nine meetings ago, when Steven Gerrard was still in charge of the Ibrox side.

With the Hoops 13 points clear at the top of the cinch Premiership having already claimed the Viaplay Cup in February, the Belgian midfielder is desperate for Gers to finally enjoy a derby victory and keep alive their last remaining hopes of silverware.

“It’s very important for two reasons,” Raskin told Sky Sports. “We need to win something for the season and it is our last chance. And also we want to win against them.

Rangers' Nicolas Raskin says Rangers will be driven by two key objectives as they bid to topple city rivals Celtic in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden.

“We’ve now lost two games (against Celtic) since I came. I think the last game was close. We are not too far from them. I’m sure we can do something in the semi-final, I’m sure if we play our best we can do something good. We have to go there with a strong mentality and go for it.”

Raskin's previous experience of facing Celtic at Hampden came via the substitutes bench with the 22-year-old introduced with 25 minutes remaining of the 2-1 defeat to Ange Postecoglou’s side in the Viaplay Cup final. He is set to start this time around, and Raskin is desperate to be on the other side of the result.

“The atmosphere was great, the half-and-half stadium was great, now we want to make our fans proud,” he said. “The last time we lost this game and it was painful to see them enjoying it with their fans and see our fans sad. We will go for it.

“I am waiting to play in the Old Firm game at our stadium, I have played there (at Celtic Park) and Hampden. You can feel the atmosphere, it is great. When you have 60,000 that are so passionate you can feel it, it is something you don’t see in every country.

“You need to see it and feel it to understand what it is.”

Raskin joined Rangers from Standard Liege in January and he explained that one of the main things he has had to adapt to is facing opponents who sit deep when they go up against his team.

“I’ve learned that the standards at Rangers need to be high every day in training,” he said. “For every aspect – nutrition, training or sleep – you need to put your standards higher. I’m trying to do this and improve myself.

“I wouldn’t say the pace of the game is faster in Scotland than I imagined but it is different. It is a different type of game. Here you can face teams that just go down (deep) and then counter so you need to adapt the way you play.

“It’s good for me because I am learning to play against a low block and how to create chances against a team playing a low block. It’s never easy for a team to play against a low-block team that defend well. It’s good for me to see every type of team.”