Make Rangers relevant again: Derek McInnes' Ibrox message and the prospect of Celtic shoot-out

Rangers have only won three trophies in the past five years, with Old Firm rivals Celtic dominating and putting their Glasgow rivals in the shade. McInnes experienced the flip side as a Rangers player under Walter Smith and craves the same success as a manager.

“We need to be more relevant domestically as a club,” said McInnes. “We haven't been. We've had sporadic cup wins and one league title.

“I understand the nature of the business and we all sign up for it. When we come here, we all have the responsibility, players, staff alike, that we're here to deliver silverware and if we don't, we won't be here long.

“For me, it's something we have to try and grasp and work towards and not be daunted by. Working for Rangers gives you great opportunities and we see this as a brilliant opportunity on Sunday to take a step closer to silverware.”

Rangers exited both cup competitions to Celtic last season, the most recent encounter being a Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox in March that was lost in a penalty shoot-out. They also exited this season’s Conference League against Jablonec in the same manner.

McInnes has steeled his players for the tie against Celtic going the distance. “I think it's important to keep an eye on it and in light of recent fixtures there's been a lot of fine margins,” said McInnes. “We will set up and practice some penalties. Hopefully we're good enough to win it in 90 minutes but I think you need to prepare for every eventuality.

“I think if you're playing a certain cup tie and you're strong favourites then you wouldn’t want to send that message out to your players that this might go to penalties. In this kind of game where there are two strong teams and it might be a tight game, I think it's certainly professional to do it.”