HE arrives while the rest of the city sleeps and only the security guard is there to greet him and departs long after both his players and colleagues have headed home.

But Pedro Caixinha firmly believes the punishing hours he puts in at Auchenhowie on a daily basis can make a crucial difference to his Rangers side and bring him success in a position in which he has much to prove.

Certainly, no possibility has been overlooked, no scenario dismissed and no tactic discarded ahead of the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final meeting with Celtic at Hampden on Sunday.

Read more: Pedro Caixinha pleased Scott Brown will play against Rangers: "We want to face the strongest Celtic side"The Herald: Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha speaks with his squad at training..

Caixinha stressed he was a workaholic when he was brought in last month and he has been true to his word. If his conscientiousness produces a favourable result this weekend in the biggest test of his short tenure to date, though, his time will have proved well spent.

“When I arrive it is almost like a ghost city,” he said. “No-one is here. I am focused on my work. When I need to work and I need to clarify my ideas the office is the best place to do it. Early in the morning when I have no-one around is when I try to do it.

“Sometimes I’m the first one in, but the other guys are coming here very early too. I don’t have my own keys for the front door, but Stevie the doorman is always here.

“I’m a guy who works from a to-do list. When the list is complete, I go. Yesterday, for example, was the earliest day I had left since I arrived here. I arrived here at 5.30 in the morning and I left a six o’clock in the afternoon.

“We analyse our team, we analyse the opponents, we prepare the training sessions, we organise the way we want the team to play. I think also about how we are going to play regarding the first XI.

“To have an idea of all the opponents we have faced so far, in domestic games, we have the footage and the video of their last five or six matches. That has been enough.

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“It’s not only about starting at 10 o’clock with a training session and arriving here at 9 o’clock and having breakfast, and then going to the training session or allow your coaches to do the training for you. I’m not that sort of guy. I need to have everything under control.”

Caixinha revealed he has been scrutinising footage of Celtic’s outings against Barcelona and Manchester City in the group stages of the Champions League earlier this season closely in a bid to gain an edge for Rangers in this cup tie.

Cynics will point out that there are no similarities between those lavishly-assembled European superpowers and his charges. However, the Portuguese coach has identified one key similarity with his team and has found watching the games back instructive.

“For Celtic, we need to go further, to the Champions League games,” he said. “The reason why is very clear. It’s because all this season they were not forced to act in some circumstances and those circumstances happened only in the Champions League matches.

“Now we are the only team in Scotland defending zonally on corners, so we know that Celtic are not used to it. On the Champions League games you saw them doing it against Barcelona and Manchester City. So those things take time to think about.”

Caixinha will sample the Glasgow derby match for the first time as Rangers manager this weekend and is sure, like all of his predecessors, to find it an exhilarating and daunting experience. But the former Panathinaikos, Rapid Bucharest and Sporting Lisbon assistant stressed the pressure of his new role, and the expectation on him to get a result, isn't impacting on his life outside of football.

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“When I go home I don’t take work,” he said. “I used to do it before, but I don’t do it anymore. If I have to get up early in the morning and come here, that’s what I do. Sometimes if I have time, I like to go for a nice dinner with the family. That’s what I like to do, to discuss some family matters.

“When I need to work, it is from 5am to 5pm, 8pm or 10 pm, whatever I need. But when I need to switch off, I switch off. I try to do that on a daily basis, because we are all creatures of habit. That’s my habit.”

He continued: “You have two types of stress. The good stress and distress. I feel good. I’m not anxious about the game. I just focus on doing my job.

“To do my job for the game is not just about arriving at the match meeting and saying ‘we are going to play this way’. We are testing things throughout the week and there is a lot of work to prepare. That’s why I need to spend so much time at the training ground.

“You need to analyse, you need to take decisions. But I’m always one who believes that the more information you have, the better decisions you are able to take. That’s why I’m always looking to be so detail orientated.”

Caixinha knows he will probably have to start with David Bates, 20, at centre half and Myles Beerman, who is just 18, at left back in this cup game due to Clint Hill and Lee Wallace being out injured. But he is, outwardly at least, unconcerned about how the youthful duo will fare after watching them help his side keep clean sheets in their last three competitive outings.

“When players start at early ages they have to play in the big matches as well,” he said. “We will have plenty of them here. I hope they have a bright future in these matches as well.

“They are doing good and we are supporting them all the time. What they need to have is confidence and we are trying to pass that onto them. We have tried to correct some points that have happened during matches. Actually, I am going to speak with them later regarding some of the behaviours of Celtic’s front players.”