Legendary Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has warned Rangers that the gap is wider than ever between the Glasgow rivals and he believes his former club won't get complacent in their quest for silverware.
Celtic blew away Ross County in a 5-0 rout on Saturday, while Rangers could only edge past St Johnstone as 1-0 winners. A common theme that's occurred in the league this season.
Brendan Rodgers' Celtic are 11 points clear of Rangers at the Scottish Premiership summit and are showing no signs of slipping up, having scored 40 goals and conceded just four times from their opening 13 matches.
Aberdeen currently sit second in the table and separate the Old Firm, yet their form has dipped after failing to win their last three games .
That means the expectancy is there for Celtic to go and run away with the title for the fourth consecutive year.
O'Neill acknowledges that there's still a long way to go before any medals are being handed out. However, he feels the Hoops cohort shouldn't have much to worry about as he suggested Rangers aren't even in the question to be crowned champions of Scotland this season.
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“I have been saying this for some quite considerable weeks now. They aren’t a good enough side to challenge Celtic over a whole season.
“I had this argument with Graeme Souness some weeks ago that ‘there isn’t a big gap between them’, there is a massive gap between them. On any given Saturday and any given day, Rangers might pose a threat to Celtic for a match, but over a whole season, especially in league terms, not good enough.
“There is no challenge from Rangers there, at this minute. Aberdeen have done exceptionally well, so far, but you aren’t expecting Aberdeen to keep it going throughout the whole season. They have done really well again.
"If Celtic are thinking Aberdeen are their main challengers, then as you [Jim White] mentioned at the top of your question to me. Complacency? I don’t think Celtic will be complacent.
"I watched them against Brugge, the other evening, expectations had been high because they had been splendid against Leipzig. They didn’t play so well in the first half and much, much better in the second half. Eight points from five games. Going strongly in the Champions League and even stronger in the SPL.
“It could be wider [the points gap by the end of the season] because Celtic are so dominant. Very, very strong. You just expect Celtic to win the games.
“You mentioned that ‘Rangers got over the line against St Johnstone’. That is no real surprise to me. You don’t feel that Rangers are capable of going away from home and winning convincingly in matches.”
