The draw has been made for the Scottish Cup semi-finals with Rangers set to face Celtic at Hampden, once again.
It will make for a very interesting month in April with the league game at Parkhead over the Easter weekend coming ahead of the last four encounter three weeks later.
🏆 CUP DRAW: We will face Celtic in the semi-final of the @ScottishCup.
📆 The tie will be played at Hampden Park on the weekend of Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 April. pic.twitter.com/c775sce5Ia
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) March 13, 2023
The meeting at Parkhead will now take on ever more significance – quite simply Rangers cannot afford to repeat the mistakes and inept performances of the last two games there. To fail so bad once again would be awful ahead of the semi-final, adding doubt as well as momentum to our rivals.
The mission is clear with the Scottish Cup carrying massive significance given the unlikely prospect of making up ground in the title race at this stage.
Rangers can take inspiration from the semi-final victory over Celtic at the same stage last season, prior to lifting the trophy after seeing off the challenge from Hearts. It is fair to say that the winner of the Old Firm semi will be strong favourites to beat Inverness Caley or Falkirk in the final.
Last season, the extra-time thriller went the way of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team just three days after the superb Europa League quarter-final victory over Braga at Ibrox. The build-up this time around will be considerably less hectic but the game itself will be massive.
Coming up to the third and fourth time of asking, there will be pressure on Michael Beale to lead his team to derby victory, especially after the recent League Cup disappointment. All of that and more lies ahead.