REGARDLESS of how you peer at tonight's Scottish League Cup semi-final draw, the hat - or whatever contraption it is they use to make draws these days - appears to be soaked with the kind of bad blood that would have Dracula recoiling in horror and saying, 'Sod that, I'll just have a glass of Ribena'.

A fevered, frenzied Celtic versus Rangers contest, the first Old Firm meeting for almost three years, could quite possibly make Armageddon itself look like a minor, passing inconvenience.

Then again, there is plenty of lingering tension and simmering resentment between Rangers and Dundee United. And Aberdeen and Rangers are hardly bosom buddies. Neither are Aberdeen and Dundee United, for that matter. And both Aberdeen and Dundee United don't really like Celtic. In fact, nobody really likes anybody. That's just football.

Of course, it's this potential encounter between the two giants of Glasgow that has got the tongues wagging. Dear Green Place? Dear God, help us, more like.

Given that these semi-final encounters will not be staged until the last weekend in January, a nation faces the prospect of three months of prolonged, remorseless build-up that would be on a par with previewing the 100 Years War.

You only miss what you had when it's gone and the absence of these raucous rivals slugging it out on a regular basis over the course of the season continues to leave a gaping void in the footballing landscape. Those who have enjoyed the relative tranquillity of life without the Old Firm fixtures in recent years may just be getting the storm doors nailed on again.

Rangers' dismal dismissal to the wilds of the Scottish football's bottom tier, when the backside well and truly collapsed out of the Ibrox empire, may have provided windfalls for all of those prudent, cannily run teams in the lower leagues and safeguarded many an operation, but the top flight continues to feel the pinch. With Hearts and Hibernian also now operating outside the upper echelons, the Premiership looks increasingly like an abandoned ship.

Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager, is certainly keen to see the Old Firm set sail again. Asked if he thought those who condemned Rangers to the wilderness would have any regrets in these times of austerity, McCoist said: "Knowing the pig-headedness of some of the people involved, no they won't. Let's be honest. Was it for the greater good of Scottish football? Of course it wasn't. It absolutely wasn't.

"But we are where we are and things have happened. There is no use in looking back because we can't change anything. I can understand the interest in this game.

"Gone are the days of this 'we don't need Rangers in the top flight'. Sadly, because it's too late, there is now a little bit of common sense being shown.

"It's clear we do need Rangers, Hearts and Hibs in the top flight. Gordon [Strachan] is doing a fantastic job for the national team, but in the best interests of Scottish football we need our big clubs in the top flight.

"With Rangers being in the lower divisions there was clearly going to be no scope for an Old Firm game unless we drew each other in the cup. The majority of people, if we do draw each other, can actively look forward to an Old Firm game and I more than anyone can appreciate that. I have great pals who are Celtic supporters as well. I've had boys coming up to me in the street saying 'we are dying for you to get back'. They miss the intensity and excitement of that Old Firm game and the chase for the title."

There's more cup duty for Rangers today when they return to Dumbarton - they won 3-0 in the league there last weekend - for a third-round Scottish Cup tie.

Fraser Aird will be missing for, possibly, the next three weeks with a muscle strain while Steve Simonsen's altercation with the goal frame on Tuesday will keep the keeper sidelined.

With Rangers fighting on a series of fronts, McCoist doesn't want too many troops holed up in the sick bay. At least Kenny Miller is getting back into front-line action again after an early season niggle.

"First and foremost is winning the league and getting back to the Premiership," said Miller. "But this club is about winning trophies and it would be good to put at least one on the sideboard. We are in two semi-finals already in the League Cup and Petrofac Training Cup, and now we have a chance to kick on in the Scottish Cup.

"It's actually been a great period for me with the games coming Saturday and Tuesday. It has given me a chance to get a few games under my belt in a short space of time and get back to a decent level of sharpness and fitness."

And as for that potential Celtic encounter? "Everybody has missed them," he gushed. "When the fixtures used to be drawn up, the first one you looked for was the Old Firm game. If it does come out the hat then we have three months of it. It will be a long build-up."

Brace yourselves, folks.