ERIK SVIATCHENKO, the Celtic defender, does not believe Rangers will be good enough to challenge at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership next season.
The Ibrox side defeated their arch-rivals in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup at Hampden Park on Sunday, but Sviatchenko sees little to suggest there will be a meaningful challenge from them over a 38-game season.
Asked whether Rangers would be ready to mount a serious bid for the title next year, Sviatchenko replied: “No, I don’t think they are. At some stages, they played well. At some stages, we played well, so it’s difficult to say as we don’t know what level they are at.
“Credit to them, but we need to focus on our own game and we are Celtic. The one thing that matters is to look at each other in the eyes and say we can do this on our own and say we don’t need to think about everyone else.”
"Did we not play to our potential? I would say so. Of course, sometimes you don’t perform well, but, at some stages, we really pressed them and showed what Celtic is about, pressing high and going up the field.
"You saw them making mistakes and we had the opportunities we needed in the game. Sometimes, they just don’t go to your advantage.
"On Sunday, we did not succeed in all the things we wanted to, but we have five finals in the Premiership. It's difficult to say that we need to move on, but we have two options.
"One is to go home and cuddle ourselves and cry, but I won't accept that.
"I will go with the other option, which is to bounce back and win the league title. We all know that we need to achieve something. We are the biggest club and we wanted to go through, but it didn't happen for us."
Sviatchenko, who scored Celtic's first goal in Sunday's game, called for unity for the rest of the season as the champions aim to get over the line and win another title.
"I will just say that, as a footballer, you need to be professional and need to be all behind the manager because we are a unit. If you don’t perform as a unit, we’ll be just individuals," said Sviatchenko. "It is the collective, it is the team that creates all the big things.
“And at this stage, we’re all together in the same boat and we need to perform. Whatever the manager says, we will be behind him and we’ll need to create a good result next week and the next week after that. Then, at the end, we’ll have the trophy that we’re all really eager to get."
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