Liam Scales warns Celtic Old Firm opponents Rangers ‘can still win the league’

Celtic defender Liam Scales is refusing to discount Rangers from the title race ahead of Sunday’s derby clash.

Rangers have fallen seven points behind Hearts with three games left after consecutive defeats by Motherwell and the William Hill Premiership leaders.

Danny Rohl’s side trail second-placed Celtic by four points but Scales expects nothing but a fully-motivated Rangers at Parkhead.

“I don’t think they’ll see themselves out of the title race, because they’re not,” the Republic of Ireland international said. “They can still win the league.

“I don’t see it being much different for them. It’s obviously a must-win for them in terms of winning the league. So they’re probably going to give everything they have to win the game.

“I don’t think you need any more motivation than this rivalry that we have as well. We’re expecting them to be at their very best and we want to match and go beyond that.”

Rangers will be out of the running if Hearts win at Motherwell on Saturday night, while an away victory at Fir Park would also pile pressure on Celtic. Scales will not be tuning in.

“I find whenever I do watch it, it never goes well,” the 27-year-old said. “So I’ll probably just leave it off, watch something else and then check the result after.

“You can’t control it and you’ll end up either getting frustrated or getting your mind taken off what’s actually important to us, which is the game on Sunday.”

Celtic are looking for a sixth consecutive win for the first time this season and Scales has some theories about their upturn in form.

“I think we’ve got things right tactically,” the defender said. “Off the ball we’ve been a lot better, pressing we’ve been a lot better. We’ve actually scored goals from pressing. Teams are having less joy against us with the ball. So I think that’s played a big part in it.

“And obviously it’s crunch time now as well. We know what’s at stake and that’s probably pushing us an extra bit harder to get the results we need.

“You go into games all the time wanting to win them and that is generally the case at Celtic where there isn’t room for error because you’re expected to win all your games. But now everything’s must-win. So that does play a part as well.”