Beale looking for Rangers to 'right a few wrongs' against Celtic in semi-final

Michael Beale has stressed the importance of a victory over Celtic on Sunday as Rangers look to keep themselves in contention for their only realistic chance of winning a trophy this season.

The Ibrox side are currently 13 points behind their city rivals in the Premiership, meaning the Hoops are only one win away from securing back-to-back titles with five league games to go.

That leaves the Scottish Cup, which they won last year, as their last hope of silverware and makes Sunday’s semi-final at Hampden more important than ever, particularly considering Ange Postecoglou’s side will be odds-on for a domestic treble if the reach the final.

The fact Rangers only have one draw to show for four Old Firm games this season just means there will be even more pressure on the current cup holders at the weekend and Beale insists they can “right a few wrongs” in the fixture if they bring their best performance to Hampden.

Speaking to the media on Friday, the Rangers manager said: “It’s a huge game, we all know that, the season has been a rough ride for the fans and this is a chance for us to right a few wrongs in this game.

“It is just one game, but I think it will have a big impact on the season if we were to win to get to the Scottish Cup final again.

“We will need to bring the best of ourselves, the games have been reasonably tight, they have been won and lost on mistakes, so it’s important that we bring our best effort and bring our best performance.

“These players have won these games before, they have been on long unbeaten runs and we will see where we are after Sunday.”

Beale also confirmed that Ryan Kent, Connor Goldson and Scott Wright, who have been missing in recent weeks, returned to training on Friday and could be in contention to return against Celtic if they prove their fitness.

He said: “The returned to training today, we will have to assess them and see how they are, but it’s nice to have them back.”