Martin O'Neill looks ahead to Sunday's League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox

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Celtic F.C.

·11 September 2026

Martin O'Neill looks ahead to Sunday's League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox

Celtic fought hard in Perth on Wednesday night (September 9), with Mika Baur’s second-half strike, his first for the club, proving to be the difference as the Hoops defeated St Johnstone 1-0.

While the Bhoys brought the performance to earn the win, the Celtic faithful brought the noise to McDiarmid Park, with three of the four stands of the stadium packed with Hoops supporters who drove the team on to victory.

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It will be an altogether different story this Sunday when Celtic travel to face Rangers in the League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox, though, where there will be no Celtic supporters in attendance.

Speaking to the media at Lennoxtown this afternoon (Friday), Martin O’Neill said that, despite the prospect of an entirely partisan crowd in Govan, he is still looking forward to the tie.

“I think I’m looking forward to it in the usual way.” The Celtic manager said. “I’m nervously looking forward to it, excitedly looking forward to it. It’s a great fixture.

“It’ll be strange in many aspects not to have any away fans in our area. I always felt as if it gave you a crumb of comfort in some description, but it is what it is.”

Having won all six league matches so far this season and having cruised past Dundee United in the last-16 of the League Cup, Martin O’Neill can rightly feel positive about where his side is just now.

One potential headache for the Celtic boss, though, is the decision he faces about who will start between the sticks on Sunday, after an impressive debut performance from Sam Johnstone on Wednesday night.

On the subject of who he will hand the gloves to on Sunday, the manager said: “I haven’t made my mind up at all. I thought he (Johnstone) did very well.

“It was a matter of needing to get a look at what Sam can do.

‘I think it’s great to have the two of them. Big Vil has done exceptionally well for us.’

“And it was just, again, an opportunity to see what Sam can do now.

“What he could do a couple of years ago was fantastic. What he can do now might be a totally different picture.”

Manager's full press conference

Looking ahead to Sunday's match
The prospect of no Celtic fans at Ibrox
Police Scotland briefing
Mika Baur update
Camilo Durán's performances
Will Viljami Sinisalo or Sam Johnstone start on Sunday

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