Rangers and Celtic Prepare for Crucial Midweek Matches

The Old Firm rarely need help to dominate a narrative, but Wednesday night has a very simple script: if Rangers win and Celtic win, the Scottish Premiership table will already look familiar.

Rangers host St Mirren at Ibrox. Celtic head up the road to Perth to face St Johnstone. Four straight league wins for Derek McInnes’ side and a perfect domestic start for Martin O’Neill’s champions have dragged the old order back into focus after a stuttering August.

Both know what’s coming next. The first derby of the season at Ibrox on Sunday in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals. Before that, they need to tune up without slipping.

Rangers building momentum, St Mirren testing it

Rangers sit behind third-placed St Mirren only on goal difference, a quirk that underlines how sharp the Paisley club’s start has been.

Craig McLeish has pushed his side into a more fluid, front-foot style and the recognition has followed. He has already collected the Premiership manager of the month award for August. Inside the camp, he insists none of this has come out of the blue.

“There's an internal belief about what we're doing and the work we can do on the pitch. It could have been even better and we were close to it being even better,” he said, rejecting the idea that this has been some sort of surprise surge.

The reality check, though, came at Ibrox. St Mirren have already been here this season and were taken apart in the Premier Sports Cup, thrashed as Rangers ripped through them.

That afternoon belonged in part to James Penrice. The left-back marked his Rangers debut with a goal and an assist in a 5-0 rout, a statement performance that has since earned him a starting place in every game. Alongside him, centre-backs Olwethu Makhanya and Emmanuel Fernandez have formed a consistent trio. Fernandez still has the odd shaky moment, but the continuity at the back has given Rangers a base to build on.

You could see that platform against Motherwell on Saturday. The visitors barely laid a glove on them. Rangers, for their part, passed up several chances to turn a single-goal win into something far more emphatic.

That followed victories over Aberdeen and Falkirk. Three wins, three clean sheets, and a manager who feels the mood shifting but refuses to pretend the demands have eased.

“I don't think that ever lifts until you've got a trophy in your hand,” McInnes said. “But I do think there's been a good feel about the place. What we have had in recent weeks is just small steps, encouragement, confidence levels.”

The timing of Lawrence Shankland’s injury could hardly be worse. Just as the striker rediscovered his finishing touch, he is sidelined. It drags new signing Kevin Kelsy into the spotlight far earlier than ideal; the forward may have to adapt on the fly rather than ease his way into the league.

St Mirren will not be cowed by the venue. They went four games unbeaten against Rangers in the league before losing the last two by a single goal. They pushed Celtic hard at the weekend in Paisley as well, impressive in their structure and composure between the boxes but missing the ruthless edge in front of goal.

They also travel without Paul Nsio, ineligible against his parent club. His bite in midfield was badly needed when Rangers ran riot in that cup tie. With him absent again, the home side may find similar freedom in the middle of the park.

Celtic grind, reshuffle and head to Perth

Celtic’s domestic form is spotless, a stark contrast to the trauma of their Champions League qualifying exit in Austria. O’Neill’s response has been decisive: an aggressive late push in the transfer window and a refusal to let European disappointment bleed into league business.

They had to work for it in Paisley. Celtic fell behind, never quite hit top gear, but still found a way to turn the game around. Yang Hyun-jun drove that recovery, his relentless energy capped by the decisive goal.

Now he is gone, at least for a while, called away with South Korea for the Asian Games. His absence forces O’Neill into a reshuffle he would rather have avoided.

The obvious move is to restore Camilo Duran to the flank. The numbers argue against it. Three goals and two assists in three games as a central striker make a compelling case to leave him exactly where he is. If Duran stays through the middle, on-loan Chelsea forward Shim Mheuka is in line for a first start out wide after a couple of substitute appearances.

Among the six players signed in the final 48 hours of the window, only Mheuka and Oliver Sorensen have seen any minutes so far. Sebastian Tounekti looks the safest, straight-swap option to fill Yang’s role on the wing.

There is more good news for O’Neill. Striker Kasper Hogh and left-back Kieran Tierney are back in contention after short injury lay-offs, adding depth just as the schedule begins to tighten.

They will need it at McDiarmid Park. St Johnstone have won two on the spin and are not interested in simply sitting in and surviving. They want the ball. They want to play through the thirds. They want to test Celtic’s press.

“They want to play football as well and they're committed,” O’Neill said. “There's a vitality about them which is very encouraging. Not dissimilar in many aspects to what Craig McLeish is doing at St Mirren.”

Josh Fowler has been the sharp edge of that approach. Three of his four goals this season have come in Perth. On the right, local product Taylor Steven has caught the eye with his delivery, his crossing a key weapon in the win over Hibs.

At the back, Cheick Diabate and Zach Mitchell bring an old-school edge. They attack everything in the air, throw themselves into blocks, and relish the physical battle. Yet for all that, Saints have yet to keep a league clean sheet, a warning sign when Celtic roll into town.

Head coach Simo Valakari knows exactly what they are up against.

“We need to do our football things so well, then at the same time, we need to earn our luck, because against Celtic, if you want to beat them, you need to be a little bit lucky in some moments,” the Finn said.

O’Neill has not stood in a dugout in Perth for 25 years, but Celtic’s scars there are much fresher. St Johnstone’s home win over the champions in April 2025 was one of the few bright spots in a season that still ended in relegation.

They are back. Celtic are top. Rangers are charging. St Mirren and St Johnstone believe they can disrupt the script.

By Sunday afternoon, when Ibrox hosts the first Old Firm of the season in the Premier Sports Cup, we will know who used this midweek as a launchpad – and who handed their rivals the first real psychological edge of the campaign.