Murdo MacLeod has warned Sevco that Celtic have improved since trashing Mark Warburton’s side 5-1 last month.
Back-to-back wins over Partick Thistle and Inverness Caley Thistle have restored faith in the magic hat with the return to favour of Andy Halliday pivotal to the transformation.
The former Bradford City favourite has replaced Joey Barton in the centre of the park but is believed to be on around one sixth of the wages that the suspended star is collecting.
MacLeod has heard al the hot air from Ibrox but ahead of Sunday’s BetFred Cup semi-final the former Celtic midfielder believes that some facts have been overlooked.
Celtic’s 3-3 draw with Manchester City came three weeks after the 5-1 win over Rangers with MacLeod believing that that Champions League display has shifted the goal posts.
Looking to Sunday’s match MacLeod said: “On current form you can’t see anything other than a Celtic win.
“The 5-1 game was a convincing victory but the Man City match has taken them further away from Rangers. The pace they showed that night took them up a level again.
“Of course, you have to go out and do it on the day and show you are the better side.
“They definitely did that in the last meeting. It’s all about who turns up in these matches and Celtic turned up that day. They were very strong, got their goals and won comfortably.
“They have taken a step forward since then. It will be even more difficult for Rangers in the semi-final.”
“Celtic have aspirations of finishing third in their Champions League group and producing European football after Christmas.
“However, they will want to get to the League Cup Final and Brendan will want to get his hands on his first trophy in November.”
Celtic went into the September fixture without the injured Leigh Griffiths but Moussa Dembele proved to be a more than decent replacement with the former Fulham striker retaining his place as Brendan Rodgers first choice striker.
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