‘We know’… Alistair Johnston makes Rangers claim after Celtic’s League Cup win

Add as preferred source on Google

Now that the League Cup rests in Celtic’s trophy cabinet, Scottish Premiership duty resumes this weekend as a visit to Dundee United looms.

Brendan Rodgers will take Celtic to Tannadice for the first time ever as the Parkhead boss where he will look to collect all three points to keep his lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table intact.

With the Rangers facing Dundee 24 hours earlier, the Ibrox club has the opportunity to close the gap to Celtics for a short period.

With an 11-point gap between the two clubs, Alistair Johnston has made a claim about the Ibrox club as the Celtic defender points out what he and his teammates are focusing on ahead of the weekend action.

Alistair Johnston didn’t send Celtic a warning about Rangers

Johnston told the Daily Record, “They’re a good team. The league is still early. We’re in December and there’s a long way to go. I think last year was a perfect example of that. We had a pretty solid lead then we threw it away and managed to claw it back at the very end.

“There’s going to be twists and turns. We can only really focus on ourselves.

“At the end of the day, if you just consistently pick up three points you’re going to leave yourself in a pretty good position going into matches against [Rangers].”

Clearly, Johnston didn’t warn Celtic about Rangers as the headline from the Daily Record suggests. The Hoops defender acknowledged that the Ibrox club are a good side and said he and the team are simply focused on what they are doing and not the Ibrox club.

Johnston just warned his Celtic teammates not to take their eye off the ball. Nothing more, nothing less.

Alistair Johnston talks up Celtic’s ‘great ability’ to beat Rangers and remarkable record vs Ibrox club

“Normally they end up being title deciders, continues Johnston, “But if you can give yourself as big a buffer as possible going into those matches it helps take some pressure off and leaves yourself in a good position no matter what the result is in those matches.

“But, again, we’ve shown a great ability to win these kinds of matches and I think that’s something that’s deep-rooted in this team and comes from the leaders we have in James Forrest and Callum McGregor and all those kinds of guys.

“We were expecting Rangers to kick on as well, and over the past couple of weeks they have done, but we know if we play our best football it’s really all about us at the end of the day.”

Alistair Johnston has a remarkable record against Rangers. The Canadian has faced the Ibrox club on 11 occasions and is undefeated.

Johnston has played in epic Glasgow Derbies against Rangers since joining the club in 2022 and Sunday’s game is probably the pick of the bunch.

Here is the full list of games that Johnston has faced Rangers in a Celtic jersey:

Scottish Premiership 22/23

• Rangers 2 v Celtic 2
• Celtic 3 v 2

Scottish Premiership 23/24

• Rangers 0 v 1 Celtic
• Celtic 2 v 1 Rangers
• Rangers 3 v 3 Celtic
• Celtic 2 v 1 Rangers

Scottish FA Cup 22/23

• Rangers 0 v 1 Celtic

Scottish FA Cup 23/24

• Celtic 1 v 0 Rangers

Scottish League Cup 22/23

• Rangers 1 v 2 Celtic

Scottish League Cup 24/25 

• Celtic 3 v 3 Rangers – Celtic win 5-4 on penalties