Defiant Danny Rolle believes Rangers are not out of contention for the Scottish Premiership title, but Sky Sports’ Chris Boyd is currently backing Hearts for top spot.
Rangers blew a two-goal lead in the derby against rivals Celtic on Sunday to draw 2-2, leaving them six points behind leaders Hearts with nine games remaining, but Celtic’s comeback meant they were eight points clear with one game in hand.
Rolle’s side have won just three of their last six league games, stalling their title challenge, but the Rangers head coach believes his side are not out of the woods yet.
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Watch highlights from the Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Celtic.
“Anyone who’s played football knows there’s momentum during a game,” he said after Celtic’s second-half comeback.
“It’s important that we continue to perform for 95 minutes. If we do this, they won’t have a chance to come back.
“We have nine games left and the difference is six points. As I have said many times, today is the final game, not today. We will fight for points until the end.”
“Nine games is a huge amount. I have full faith in the players.”
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Dujon Sterling’s handball gave Celtic a second-half penalty, which Reo Hatate converted to equalize for his former club.
However, Sky Sports’s Boyd, who was rooting for Rangers to win the title, changed his mind after the result against Ibrox.
“Hearts have been at the top of the table since October. It’s not a fluke, it’s not a purpura. They’ve been outstanding,” he said.
“Last week I said Rangers were (favorites) but now I have to say Hearts are the best team for me. Rangers are in form with three wins in eight games in all competitions. That’s not the form to win the Championship.”
“Celtic were inconsistent and Motherwell were outstanding, but maybe they did too much to get back at Hearts.
“Hearts have two home games, one against Motherwell and two away games against the bottom two teams in the league. My feelings are leaning towards Hearts at the moment.”
“There is no exit yet.”
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Martin O’Neill reflects on Celtic’s 2-2 draw at his old farm and believes Celtic are still very much in the title race.
Celtic’s game will be played in Aberdeen on Wednesday and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, but manager Martin O’Neill still dreams of a chance in the title race.
“If you’re at Hearts you’ll think this is a really good result for them, but we’re still unbeaten,” he said after the Old Firm draw.
“If the game was over at half-time and after our first-half performance, you would have thought we were a million miles away.
“Now that the game is over, there is still plenty of spirit and desire to retain the Championship, especially as we did against Ibrox when we were down 2-0 and we played well to fight back.
“This season has been a really tough old battle, so we just have to overcome it. Still, staying in the title race looked pretty tough at halftime.”
“A draw would feel like a defeat for Rangers.”
Sky Sports pundit Chris Sutton praised O’Neill’s decisive half-time substitutions and the introduction of Reo Hatate and Sebastian Tunekuti for sparking the comeback, and said O’Neill deserves all the credit if Celtic go on to win the title.
“If Rangers are two points up and we miss it, it will feel like we’ve lost. Martin O’Neill will be happy to get a point and if we were a little more careful at the end we could have gotten three.”
“What a strange game. It shows the characteristics of both teams. Celtic were bullied in the first half. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain couldn’t get the pace of the game in midfield. He seemed to think this was a testament.”
“Martin O’Neill’s substitution was really decisive. Reo Hatate hasn’t been very good this season and he’s been in a bad mood for parts of the season, but he showed what a quality player he can be and is. He was decisive in the second half.”
“Celtic were a dominant team. 16 of Celtic’s 17 shots were in the second half. Martin O’Neill will be pleased with the recovery. Hearts deserve points better than anyone.”
