CLINT Hill has admitted he would dearly like to give Rangers supporters a late Christmas present – a win over Celtic at Ibrox which prevents their fierce city rivals from going the domestic season unbeaten.
Mark Warburton’s side is currently 14 points behind Brendan Rodgers’s team, who still have a game in hand, in the Ladbrokes Premiership table and are unlikely to catch them.
The defending Scottish champions haven’t lost any of the 18 league games they have played so far in the 2016/17 campaign – they have won 17 and drawn just one.
The Glasgow club also won all four of their Betfred Cup games this term and lifted their first silverware of the Rodgers era with a comfortable 3-0 win over Aberdeen at Hampden last month.
Celtic’s impressive run of form has raised the possibility they can win only the fourth treble in their history and go the entire season without losing.
However, Hill is still desperate for Rangers to avenge the humiliating 5-1 defeat they were on the receiving end of at Parkhead back in September and the 1-0 loss they suffered at Hampden in October.
The experienced defender believes that ending their undefeated streak at Ibrox this weekend will give their fans a huge lift and give them the belief they can challenge their age-old adversaries going forward.
“When you are a Rangers player the objective is to be close to Celtic – you want to beat them,” he said. “They are unbeaten, so that would be a lovely scalp if we could do that.
“We want to close that gap on them as quickly as we can. We can’t compete financially or in terms of European football or anything like that, but hopefully we can close that gap as quickly as possible.
“It is going to be a big game. If we can give a good solid performance then hopefully it will begin to turn in our favour.”
Hill has done well since joining Rangers on a free transfer in the summer and received the Man of the Match award after helping his team keep a clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Christmas Eve.
The 38-year-old has been linked with a move back to English Championship club Queens Park Rangers – he spent six years at Loftus Road before moving to Scotland – at the end of the season.
However, the centre half, who is out of contract in the summer, is unaware of any interest from QPR.
“I have not heard anything and I would be very surprised if that came off because four, five months ago I was released,” he said. “I know they are moving in a different way now.
Asked about his future at Rangers, he said: “I am too old to even think about that. I take every game as it comes and I am not thinking about next season. I don’t know what the situation is yet. I will see how the body is and repairs and then judge from there.”
Meanwhile, Hill is hopeful that Lee Wallace, the Rangers captain and left back who limped off injured against Inverness at the weekend, will be available for the game against St. Johnstone in Perth tomorrow and Celtic on Saturday.
“He is a tough boy and hopefully he will pull through,” he said. “He is our skipper, he is massive for the club. He has been here a long time and brings all that experience and knowledge of the club.
‘He is a very calming influence on the pitch and in the dressing room, so he will be a miss if he is missed. Hopefully he won’t be.”
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