NafisaKris Boyd has described Rangers’ meeting with Celtic as a “must-win.”
That stance comes down to the financial consequences tied to finishing third in the table. Despite moving ahead through Dujon Sterling, Danny Röhl’s side were beaten 2-1 by Hearts on Monday.
Now, with Rangers trailing the league leaders by seven points, Boyd has underlined just how significant Sunday’s fixture at Celtic Park is. Boyd said: “As a football manager, you’re always under pressure when you don’t win trophies. [Sky Sports]
“I think there’ll be more questions asked if Rangers don’t get that second place, because when you look at FFP and Rangers were on the threshold of that last season, you’re then trying to rebuild another team.
“There’ll be players leaving; there are already players who have announced that they’re going to be leaving. So to allow Rangers to spend the money they’ll need to spend, I mean, they’ve spent a lot of money already, but to spend the money they’ll have to spend to get back up there and challenge next year, there’ll be a lot of players leaving.
“You’re going to need every advantage you can get, and that will be that Champions League qualifier.”
On Sunday’s encounter, Boyd added: “Rangers need to approach Celtic Park on Sunday as a game that they must win. It’s bad enough finishing second up here, but to finish third would be a huge, huge blow for Rangers.
“They need to find a way to finish second and see what happens from there because Champions League qualifiers, with the prize money that’s in there, are massive.
“It’s not a given that you’re going to get there, but even if you get those couple of games, it can generate five to ten million pounds in revenue over the summer.”
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