Why a Rangers game will never be a 'dead rubber' for Celtic or Luke McCowan

Luke McCowan has dismissed any notion that Celtic will be viewing Sunday’s visit to face Rangers at Ibrox as a ‘dead rubber’, saying that he and his teammates are desperate to win the game despite having already sewn up the league title.

Celtic confirmed their fourth Premiership crown in succession with the thumping win over Dundee United last weekend and have opened up a 17-point gap to their city rivals, but they have rather toiled against Rangers over the past three meetings, winning the League Cup Final on penalties before losing the last two derbies.

When asked if those defeats had irked the Celtic players and provided an extra motivation for Sunday, McCowan said: “What do you think the answer to that is?

“It's never a dead rubber. Regardless of the other games, you want to win that game.

"Let's be black and white about it. You want to win that game.

(Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) “Of course [we’ll be angry if we lose]. I mean, that always will be the case, regardless of who it's against. You're always going to be raging you've lost a game, even if you've won a league. It doesn't change that feeling of hurt that comes with it.

“So no, the focus is to go and win the game on Sunday and put in as much hard work this week to prepare for that. And I'm sure the boys will do it come Sunday.”

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Boyhood Celtic fan McCowan was also quizzed on that annual Scottish football talking point of whether he expected Rangers to give their bitter rivals a guard of honour as champions, and he responded with something of a twinkle in his eye.

"No, not at all,” he said.

“That is just how it is, isn't it?

"I don't know how it would be if it was on the other foot. We'll never really know, I don't think.

"We'll see what happens."

Regardless of the opposition, McCowan says that the Celtic players do still have plenty to keep their minds focused over the remaining four league fixtures, with personal targets to hit and places up for grabs in the line-up for the Scottish Cup Final.

“I think that's down to the targets that we're going to still be setting,” he said.

(Image: Rob Casey - SNS Group) “That's what keeps everybody motivated, probably breaking other records that are within seasons. It's how many goals you can get within a season or whatever. It's always the next thing. There's always a next motivating factor. 

“Obviously the cup final coming up is another motivating factor. There's a lot of things to work towards still in this season.

“The boys are happy, of course, getting this over the line in April, and it's a great achievement. But it's the next thing now.”