IF you were to believe everything which came out of Lee McCulloch's mouth at Murray Park, a natural conclusion would be that the Rangers captain had been preparing for the Old Firm game by losing himself in a sensory deprivation chamber.

He hasn't seen the controversial elements of what has been written about Rangers-Celtic nor heard the provocative comments. Or so he said.

Had Celtic's John Guidetti been disrespectful when he talked about scoring a hat-trick in the semi-final? "I haven't seen those comments, sorry," said McCulloch, straight batting. What about the advertisement a section of Celtic supporters placed in the Sunday Herald asserting that Rangers were a new club, formed in 2012, and there is no longer any such thing as the Old Firm? "I didn't see that." Surely he had heard about it? "No, I haven't to be honest."

Things were moving to the point where McCulloch might have said he was unaware if the sun was still rising in the morning or if the earth was still producing oxygen, although a smile and a quiet apology as he left the media room at the end of his press briefing indicated that he knew far more than he was letting on. There may not have been an Old Firm game for almost three years but old habits die hard, and McCulloch is long enough in the tooth to know it's wise to say as little as possible before going in against the oldest enemy, especially against a superior team it would be foolish to provoke.

At 36, he is the elder statesman of the Rangers dressing room. Along with Kenny Miller, 34, Kris Boyd, 31, and Lee Wallace, just 27, he has gone around those team-mates who have never experienced playing in an Old Firm game, warning them of what to expect. Steve Simonsen, Darren McGregor, Ian Black, David Templeton, Fraser Aird and Jon Daly, himself a veteran at 32, could all be on from the start in their first Rangers-Celtic fixture. "I think they are well aware what to expect," said McCulloch. "We have got Kenny Miller, Kris Boyd and Lee Walllace who have all played in the Old Firm game before [he could have mentioned Richard Foster, Kyle Hutton and Steven Smith, too]. Those boys have been getting around the boys who haven't played in it before. Everybody will be well aware of what to expect."

Until now, McCulloch has always faced Celtic teams from a position of relative equality. The same does not apply this time, given the severe deterioration in talent and resources at Rangers, although he refused to approach the game with a notion of inferiority. When it was put to him that a win at Hampden would be on a par with reaching the 2008 Uefa Cup final, given the current circumstances, he quickly shot down the comparison. Going further, he said a Rangers win would not be as extraordinary achievement as some observers have claimed. "I don't think so. Not in my eyes. We have beaten Celtic before so why can't we go and beat them again? Beating Celtic would mean everything. For any fan who is playing for their team, to beat your biggest rivals means a hell of a lot. I don't think there is any fear at all. There is respect. There is never really any fear.

"They are the biggest games in Scotland really, so I think you would be lying if you say you didn't miss them as a player. I would imagine managers don't miss them but as a player you definitely miss the occasion, the bragging rights for the fans, the atmosphere. That is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and personally I can't wait for Sunday. To handle the atmosphere you need a cool head, basically. The atmosphere can get the better of you. There are a lot of people in our dressing room experiencing it for the first time and it is a case of playing with your heads and not your hearts. Sensible heads are needed on and off the pitch. The ones who have never played there before could get carried away with the occasion. But we are just going to need to keep a calm head on it."

It had been "brilliant" of Police Scotland to visit both clubs last week, offering the players and management advice on how to avoid provocative behaviour. "They come out and give you little pointers and tell you what is right and wrong and what you can't do. All of the players are well aware of the repercussions if they do something wrong." Not giving anything away at a pre-match press conference might have been among the lessons.

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291932 GMT JAN 15