Ahead of Sunday's Co-operative Insurance Cup final at Hampden, BBC Scotland spoke to Rangers supporter Grahame Critcher and Celtic fan Tommy Cowan and asked them who would secure the first domestic silverware of the season.

I'm definitely confident about Sunday's game; we're playing relatively well.

Both teams are probably not at their best at the moment.

But, when it comes to Old Firm matches, current form goes completely out of the window in any case.

I don't think any Rangers fan would be happy to sacrifice anything to Celtic, never mind the league title.

It's so close that we don't need to be sacrificing Sunday for the league; it's within our grasp to win both.

I think that Nacho Novo has always been a thorn in Celtic's side. He has taken over that role from Peter Lovenkrands.

He's very effective coming off the bench, but I don't think he should start.

I think it will be a close game, kind of edgy. If we need someone to come on to take the game by the scruff of the neck then Novo is the man to do that.

We don't have a Ronald de Boer and Celtic are lacking a Lubo Moravcik; players who can light up games from the middle of the park

I'm a big Kris Boyd fan and think he should be playing every game. But he always lets me down in Old Firm games.

He would always be one of the first names on my team-sheet, but I could understand if he's dropped on Sunday, with Kyle Lafferty being played through the middle.

Lafferty is beginning to establish himself at Rangers.

He's getting into the right positions and putting chances away; he looks confident and stronger up front. He's clearly trying to say to the manager 'I don't play on the left, I play up front'.

"It's important both sides put on a spectacle on Sunday.

"Especially since last season we progressed far in competitions without being that pretty.

Now the fans are demanding some entertainment, but the problem is we don't have a Ronald de Boer and Celtic are lacking a Lubo Moravcik; players who can light up games from the middle of the park.

But I don't care if the ball is passed from left to right for 89 minutes as long as we score in the 90th minute. If we get that win, that's all that matters.

It's a case of enjoying the day - and, hopefully, enjoying the night even more after the result."

If you'd asked me a week ago, I would have answered with emphatic confidence about Sunday's final.

I thought we had turned an seemingly never-ending corner only to find that complacency and mediocrity are going to be a mainstay of Celtic's 08/09 season.

It turns out that this is actually the reason why I am confident of a Celtic victory.

The team is not short of talent but seems to be short of motivation.

The fact that it is Rangers we are up against, for the first meaningful bragging rights, should ensure that the right mindset is bursting out of the Celtic dressing-room come three o'clock on Sunday.

Much pressure will rest on the shoulders of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras. Whoever starts alongside McDonald will be desperate to score.

In order for that to happen, though, I would suggest that the aforementioned McDonald, as well as McGeady and Nakamura, must be hitting top form.

Would I sacrifice the League Cup for the league title? Simply yes, on any ordinary season.

The way Celtic are performing this season is erratic at best. I have no way of establishing if victory on Sunday will take the necessary wind out of Rangers' sails, give Celtic the sustainable impetus to retain the league title, or the exact opposite.

If this season is Strachan's swansong, and I get the impression that it is, he will undoubtedly want to go out on a high

To err on the side of caution, if losing this final guaranteed league victory, I'd take the league, but football doesn't work like that. I'll take both, thanks.

As for superstitions, I have none. I have washed my lucky Homer Simpson socks and will iron my favourite pants.

Is Strachan under pressure? Yes. He is the most successful Celtic manager in 40 years.

If this season is his swansong, and I get the impression that it is, he will undoubtedly want to go out on a high.

If the players are aware of this, it would perhaps explain the standard of performances this season.

No matter what, he needs to get these players motivated.

Ordinarily, there is little motivation required for players stepping into the Old Firm cauldron, especially in a final, but I think the wee man might come into his own in the Hampden dressing-room this Sunday.

He has the expectations of millions of Celtic fans on his shoulders, most of whom want to know if his tenure is worth prolonging or perhaps he has the desire to bolster his CV for whatever pastures he seeks to graze on next season.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version