It’s fair to say Rangers boss Danny Rohl was far from impressed with Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan’s assessment that “we know if we're at it no team in that league touches us”.

Rohl pointed to Celtic’s position in the league as he hit back and said: “I think at the moment we are in the second position, they are behind us. They have at the moment seven or eight defeats.

“I think in general it makes no sense to speak too much about the other side, we have to focus on ourselves.

“We want to win this game. I see my team is ready to take points and then we'll see on Sunday. Hopefully both teams try everything and I'm confident that we have a big chance of winning this game.”

Celtic’s Luke McCowan claimed “if we're at it, no team in that league touches us” following his side’s win at Stuttgart, despite the Hoops trailing both Hearts and Rangers in the title race.

Celtic have had their struggles this season but McCowan, who scored the wining goal in Germany as they exited the Europa League, says Celtic are unstoppable when they hit top gear.

“We’re feeling really good,” McCowan said ahead of the trip to Rangers. “I mean, we need to go there with the confidence from tonight.

“We know it's going to be a hectic atmosphere, a lot of pressure on the game for both teams especially.

"But we just know we've got enough in that dressing room and we need to go in with the right attitude and the right hunger.

"I guess you want a good performance that can lead to a good result. We know if we're at it, no team in that league touches us. We need to have that mentality going in.

"As Celtic players, we need to know we're champions still until we lose it. Right now, we've not lost it, so we need to have that mentality.”

After Danny Rohl said it would be “interesting” to see whether Martin O’Neill would pick either Kasper Schmeichel or Viljami Sinisalo for the Old Firm, the Celtic boss hit back by saying the Rangers manager’s comments were “extraordinary”.

"So he's picking our team? Well done, old Danny, well done. He's only in less than a year himself. He'll soon know all about it in the next four or five years,” O’Neill said at a press conference.

"I must sit down here and see if I can find out.... maybe he might have a choice of some players and maybe I could put my oar in there and find out what he's doing.

"Listen, sorry, I have to laugh. He's had a comment about our team, as in the picking of the team? Extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary. He hasn't been in Glasgow long."

Rangers boss Danny Rohl ramped up the mind games before hosting Celtic by bringing up Martin O’Neill’s decision to drop Kasper Schmeichel for back-up goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo in the 1-0 win at Stuttgart in midweek.

Sinisalo had a fine performance in place of the under-fire Schmeichel, who was one of eight changes and has been struggling for form in recent weeks.

“It will be interesting as well, the goalkeeper position, what he will do now, let's see,” Rohl said.

“I think when you see the line-up from yesterday, the starting line-up, then I expect some changes, it's normal, they try to use the full squad.

"I was a little bit surprised after 1-0 that they're not trying to win this game, 2-0, 3-0, to have a chance. They keep the result until the end.”

Sir Alex Ferguson watched on as Hearts defeated Aberdeen 1-0 to move seven points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The former Manchester United boss was at Tynecastle as a guest of Jambos manager Derek McInnes and he saw Claudio Braga score what proved to be the only goal of the game just before the half-hour mark.

The Jambos had enough chances to have won more convincingly, but their supporters greeted the full-time whistle with jubilation as they stretched their lead over Rangers and Celtic.

Rangers crashed back down to earth after beating Hearts at Ibrox a couple of weeks ago as they were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom club Livingston in west Lothian.

Danny Rohl’s side fell 2-0 down before Livingston were reduced to 10 men and the visitors launched a furious comeback, equalising through goals from Emmanuel Fernandez and Mikey Moore.

Still, it was more costly dropped points away from home.

Celtic’s nightmare season took another turn for the worst as they lost twice at home in the space of four days last week; first losing 4-1 to Stuttgart in the Europa League and the 2-1 to Hibs to suffer a potentially damaging blow in the title race.

Martin O’Neill made eight changes for the return leg to Stuttgart and a battling, committed performance to earn a 1-0 win, as well as a first-ever win on German soil, salvaged some pride and gives Celtic something to build on as they now travel to Ibrox.

Martin O’Neill will have to decide whether to start under-fire goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel after he was dropped from the victory in Stuttgart in midweek and replaced by Viljami Sinisalo, who performed well between the posts, as one of eight changes. Auston Trusty is suspended. Luke McCowan impressed in Germany and could have earned a start.

Possible Celtic XI: Schmeichel; Araujo, Scales, Murray, Tierney; McGregor, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Hyunjun, Nygren, McCowan; Adamu

Rangers will check on the fitness Dujon Sterling and Ryan Naderi before facing Celtic. Youssef Chermiti scored a hat-trick on his last outing against Celtic while Andreas Skov Olsen is likely to start despite being taken off at half-time in the draw at Livingston.

Possible Rangers XI: Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Fernandez, Rommens; Raskin, Chukwuani; Skov Olsen, Moore; Naderi, Chermiti

The Old Firm kicks off at 12pm on Sunday 1 March at Ibrox.

It will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.