Rangers and Celtic Aim for Wins Ahead of Derby Clash
With the Old Firm both under the lights on Wednesday, the Scottish Premiership table could snap into a familiar shape by the end of the night. If Rangers stretch their winning run to four, the top end of the division will suddenly look very much as expected.
Rangers welcome St Mirren to Ibrox. Celtic head up the A9 to face a resurgent St Johnstone in Perth. By Sunday, the two Glasgow giants will be staring each other down in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals at Ibrox. Before that, they have business to take care of.
Rangers building momentum, St Mirren riding the wave
Rangers trail third-placed St Mirren only on goal difference after a bright start from the Paisley side. That alone tells you how well Craig McLeish’s team have opened up.
McLeish has drawn praise for loosening the handbrake, encouraging a more fluid, front-foot style that has carried St Mirren into the early-season spotlight and earned him the Premiership manager of the month award for August.
"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."
That belief will be tested again at Ibrox. St Mirren have already been there this season and were taken apart in the Premier Sports Cup, thrashed as Rangers ran in five.
James Penrice announced himself that day with a lively debut, grabbing one goal and creating another. The left-back has kept his place ever since, part of a back line that has finally settled. Central defenders Olwethu Makhanya and Emmanuel Fernandez have started every game alongside him. Fernandez still has the odd shaky moment, but the consistency of selection has given Rangers a platform to climb.
Motherwell found little joy at Ibrox on Saturday. Rangers passed up several chances to add to their lead, yet the control was clear. That win followed victories over Aberdeen and Falkirk. The trajectory is upwards.
Derek McInnes can feel confidence building around the club, but he knows the demands do not ease.
"I don't think that ever lifts until you've got a trophy in your hand," he said. "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."
One step back has arrived up front. Lawrence Shankland’s injury, just as the striker had rediscovered his scoring touch, is a significant blow. It leaves Kevin Kelsy facing an accelerated introduction, with little scope for a gentle bedding-in period.
Rangers edged the previous two league meetings with St Mirren by a single goal. Before that, the Buddies went four unbeaten in this fixture. The history hints at tight margins, but the most recent Ibrox encounter – that cup hammering – lingers in the mind.
St Mirren impressed again at the weekend despite defeat to Celtic in Paisley. McLeish’s team were sharp between both boxes, composed on the ball, but lacked ruthlessness in front of goal. They will also be without Paul Nsio, whose loan deal prevents him from facing his parent club. His absence strips bite from a midfield that was overrun at Ibrox in last month’s cup tie, and that could prove decisive again.
Celtic grind, St Johnstone surge
Celtic arrive in Perth with a perfect domestic record, their league form a clean response to the Champions League qualifying trauma suffered in Austria. A flurry of late-window signings has freshened the champions’ squad, and the early signs are that the new faces have added depth and energy.
They needed all of that resilience in Paisley. Celtic fell behind, laboured for long spells, and still found a way to win. Yang Hyun-jun drove that comeback, his tireless performance capped by the decisive finish.
Now he is gone – for a while at least. Yang has joined up with South Korea for the Asian Games, forcing Martin O’Neill into a reshuffle.
O’Neill may hesitate before moving Camilo Duran back out wide. The forward is in a rich vein of form, with three goals and two assists in his last three outings through the middle. If Celtic do switch him, on-loan Chelsea striker Shim Mheuka is waiting for a first start after brief cameos from the bench.
Of the six players who arrived in the final 48 hours of the transfer window, only Mheuka and Oliver Sorensen have featured so far. Sebastian Tounekti looks the safest, most straightforward option to step in for Yang on the flank.
There is more good news on the injury front. Striker Kasper Hogh and left-back Kieran Tierney are back in contention after short layoffs, handing O’Neill extra options at both ends of the pitch.
Celtic will not have it easy at McDiarmid Park. St Johnstone are chasing a third straight league win and, under Simo Valakari, have committed to playing through the thirds and keeping the ball. They will try to meet Celtic on footballing terms, not simply sit in and hope.
"They want to play football as well and they're committed," O’Neill said of his next opponents. "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 up that sense of purpose. Three of Josh Fowler’s four goals this season have come in Perth. Local product Taylor Steven has caught the eye with his delivery from the right, particularly in the win over Hibs, while centre-backs Cheick Diabate and Zach Mitchell form a rugged, no-nonsense pairing. They attack everything in the air, throw themselves into blocks, and relish the physical side. Even so, Saints are still chasing their first league clean sheet.
Valakari knows what his team 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.
O’Neill has not stood in a technical area in Perth for 25 years, but Celtic do not need to dig so far back to recall the dangers lurking there. St Johnstone’s home win over the champions in April 2025 was one of the few bright spots in a season that still ended in relegation.
Now they are back, braver on the ball and buoyed by recent results, with Celtic and Rangers both trying to tune up for Sunday’s first derby of the season. The question is simple: who reaches that collision course still riding a winning streak, and who arrives with doubts suddenly creeping in?
