Rangers' hot heart and smart mind plan as Danny Rohl peeks in at Celtic

There is substance to such a stance. Rangers have not lost this year, and only once in the Premiership since the German took over in mid-October. It is why the Ibrox side are back in the Premiership title race, four points behind leaders Hearts in second place and two clear of Celtic in third.

One of the matches under his tenure that elevated Rangers’ status to potential champions was their first match of 2026, a 3-1 win over Celtic at Parkhead. Since then they have gone on to defeat Hearts. Only Hibs, Motherwell and Livingston have taken points off them in draws. Under Rohl, Rangers don’t lose often.

“In general, for me, that was one of the biggest moments so far,” said Rohl, “because we beat a big team and we came back after being one-nil down. It helps; it gives the team the belief. I think as a manager, when you make decisions, and you can make a decision at half-time, and it works like this, it helps as well for the trust of the players.

“There is no question mark, the players follow our way, they are confident, they have belief, and I think this is crucial. You have to believe. I think this game is not about the legs, it's about the mind, the brain and how ready you are in these moments. If you do this, then, yeah, let's see.”

Let’s see indeed. Many people believe the loser of this particular edition of the Old Firm will be out of the reckoning for the title. Hearts face Aberdeen at Tynecastle 24 hours earlier and are warm favourites to win. They could be seven points clear before Rangers and Celtic do battle at noon.

For what it is worth, Rohl doesn’t think this match is defining - “no team will be out after this game because there are still 27 points you can take” - but defeat would halt momentum, perhaps even so a draw. Rangers will be going for the win. At home, in front of a re-engaged Ibrox, the ground is fertile.

”We are ready,” smiled Rohl. “I think during the week we spoke a lot about this game and the coaching group as well. I think when you are a manager, and you have the chance to play at home in these kinds of games, then you are also on fire and we are on fire. I think it was a good training week so far, let's see tomorrow, one more training session.

“I feel the confidence, I feel the belief, and I think this is very important. We can speak about the shape and the tactics, but it's also about how we go about the duels, how we win the balls, how we play forward. If we have the right mindset for this game, then I totally believe we will come with a lot of confidence, and we have 51,000 at our back, and it will be a good atmosphere.”

Hot heart and smart mind

Rangers now have a resilience about them. They have come back from behind to beat both their title rivals this year and Rohl knows this will stand his players in good stead should they face adversity.

“When you get closer and closer to the end of the season, then you know every game is important,” explained Rohl. “I think the away win [over Celtic] was fantastic, there was a great atmosphere after the game, we turned the game after going 1-0 down to a 3-1 win. I think it gives us the belief that we can always come back; we showed this against Hearts. Hearts was a good taste of how it could be at home in big games, and hopefully we can bring our part into this game on Sunday as well, when we have this atmosphere again.

Rohl was asked about how to approach the fixture. “Have a clear mindset, I think this is important, not to be over-paced in this game. I think do it with a hot heart and a smart mind. If we do this, then we have a big chance, we have a clear idea of what we want to do, we also have some different solutions for how we can hurt them, but let's see.”

Rohl doesn’t talk often about the opponent but he clearly noted Celtic’s 1-0 win over VfB Stuttgart and the changes their manager Martin O’Neill made to his team. Much talk centres around the goalkeeper: will Viljami Sinisalo keep his place ahead of Kasper Schmeichel?

“I think when you see the line-up from yesterday, the starting line-up, then I expect some changes,” said Rohl. “It's normal, they try to use the full squad. I was a little bit surprised after 1-0 that they're not trying to win this game, 2-0, 3-0, to have a chance. They keep the result until the end, I think they're just a little bit apart.

“But yeah, it will be interesting as well, the goalkeeper position, what he's doing now, let's see. But we are prepared, I think we’re focused on ourselves, we also have some interesting decisions to make. I know if everyone is available, it's also for me in some positions not an easy decision, because there are more than two or three players who are ready for this game. It's a good situation, I like this, my players showed that they are ready, I think this is crucial, and yeah, let's see what it means on Sunday.”