NafisaMartin O’Neill knows Celtic are walking into one of the most hostile environments Scottish football can offer when they travel to Ibrox on Sunday.
For the first time in a while, the Old Firm will be played with no away supporters inside the stadium, leaving Celtic to face a sea of Rangers fans as the two sides battle for a place in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.
That makes the opening stages particularly important. Celtic may have enjoyed a perfect domestic start under O’Neill, but the atmosphere inside Ibrox could quickly become overwhelming if Rangers establish early control.
There is, however, another possibility — and it is one Celtic will be hoping to exploit.
If the visitors can find an early breakthrough, the noise that is expected to greet them could quickly turn into something very different. Instead of intimidating Celtic, the 50,000-strong crowd could begin demanding answers from the home side.
That is precisely the scenario former Celtic captain Scott Brown believes O’Neill’s side should be targeting.
Celtic seek to maintain perfect domestic start
Celtic arrive at Ibrox having made a flawless start to their Scottish Premiership campaign.
O’Neill’s side have won all six of their league matches, scoring 14 goals while conceding only three, giving the manager plenty of encouragement ahead of his first Old Firm cup clash since returning to the club.
Yet the impressive domestic record has come alongside a painful European disappointment.
Celtic suffered a dramatic Champions League qualifying collapse against LASK, losing the second leg 5-1 after putting themselves in a commanding position from the first meeting.
That result raised questions over the squad and O’Neill’s ability to keep Celtic progressing on multiple fronts.
Domestically, though, the response has been emphatic.
The Hoops have collected maximum points from every league fixture so far and now have the opportunity to eliminate their biggest rivals from another competition.
There is also plenty of history behind Celtic’s confidence.
The Glasgow giants have won their last six League Cup meetings with Rangers, dating back to 2011, while Celtic have not been eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the competition since 2009.
Those numbers will mean little once the whistle goes at Ibrox, but they underline why Celtic will not travel across Glasgow simply hoping to survive the atmosphere.
O’Neill and Brown plot to turn crowd anxious
With no Celtic supporters allowed inside Ibrox following the decision surrounding the away allocation, O’Neill knows the home crowd will be firmly behind Rangers from the opening whistle.
Brown believes Celtic must therefore make that support work against Rangers rather than allowing it to become a decisive advantage.
The former captain’s message is simple: start quickly, score first and force the home supporters to become nervous.
O’Neill appears to have reached much the same conclusion.
“I suppose if you get in front in the game, that makes them anxious,” O’Neill noted. “The crowd will be right behind their team, which you would expect. We just do our best. We’re up against a crowd that can make a difference.”
That final point could prove particularly important.
Rangers have already shown signs of anxiety during difficult spells this season, with the Ibrox support demanding more from the team despite the improvement under Derek McInnes.
Celtic therefore have an obvious incentive to make the opening exchanges uncomfortable.
A fast start would not only give O’Neill’s players something tangible to defend; it could also change the emotional temperature inside the stadium.
The longer Rangers remain behind, the more pressure could potentially fall on the home players.
And with no Celtic supporters present to absorb some of that pressure or create their own noise, every mistake from the Rangers players could be amplified.
Strong cup record boosts visiting confidence
Celtic’s recent record in this fixture provides another reason for confidence.
The Hoops have dominated the League Cup meetings between the clubs in recent years, winning the last six encounters in the competition.
O’Neill also has a strong personal record at Ibrox from his first spell in charge of Celtic. The Northern Irishman won six of his previous 11 visits to the Rangers stadium as Celtic manager.
That experience could be valuable on Sunday.
He understands the intensity of the occasion, the way the crowd can influence the players and how quickly an Old Firm match can change direction.
Celtic’s midweek victory at St Johnstone also offered encouragement.
O’Neill made heavy changes to his starting lineup, yet Celtic still managed to grind out a narrow victory and maintain their perfect domestic record.
That suggests the squad is coping well with the demands of the early-season schedule.
Now comes a completely different test.
Rangers will have the stadium, the noise and the psychological advantage of playing in front of their own supporters. Celtic, meanwhile, will have to rely entirely on their players and staff to handle the pressure.
But O’Neill knows there is a way to flip that equation.
An early Celtic goal could silence the stadium, put Rangers under immediate pressure and transform the very atmosphere that was supposed to intimidate the visitors into a source of anxiety for McInnes’ side.
For Celtic, that could be the biggest weapon of all.
Nafisa
