Title won´t be decided by Old Firm duels, says Strachan

Gordon Strachan says he doesn’t believe the Old Firm clashes will decide the destination of the title after his Celtic side held Rangers to a goalless draw at Parkhead.

The sides are separated by just two points at the top of the table and the final Old Firm fixture of the season, expected to be in late April at Ibrox, could have a huge bearing on who lifts the league trophy at the end of the season.

Honours are even between the two sides this season with a 4-2 victory for Rangers last August followed by a 1-0 Celtic win at Ibrox in December.

But Strachan, who has seen his side drop points to Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee United in the past month, says both sides will continue to slip up against other teams in the league and it is how they deal with them that will determine who is crowned champions.

“I don’t think it is the Old Firm games that will determine the title this season,” Strachan said.

“It is very tight at the moment between the two clubs. We have won one game each and now there has been a draw.

“There have also not been many goals in the last couple of games.

“I think the league is going to be decided about how you play against the other teams. And the other teams have proven that they can beat the Old Firm, that’s for sure.”

The Celtic manager also praised Artur Boruc for his display in the Old Firm match after a couple of weeks where he dominated the headlines thanks to a training ground bust up with team-mate Aiden McGeady and a high profile blunder against Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup.

“It was nice to see him back making saves, which he’s done for a long time here, to keep us in the game,” the Hoops handler added.

“He did very well today and had a nice spring in his step and was confident. I liked what I saw from him.”

Celtic remain two points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League after holding Rangers to a dreary goalless draw at Parkhead on Sunday.

It was the away side that dominated the match but without creating many clear cut chances.

In fact the capacity crowd had to wait until the second-half for the first shot on target with both teams displaying a cautious approach. With so much at stake in the game Walter Smith set up his side with Kyle Lafferty as his lone striker and midfielder Lee McCulloch sitting in front of the back four.

Celtic struggled against the extra man in midfield and it wasn’t until the final minute of the match that the home supporters witnessed Rangers keeper Allan McGregor being tested from a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick as the Old Firm derby ended in a draw for the first time in nine games.

It was Celtic who had the first chance of the match in the 16th minute. Willo Flood, making his debut after signing from Dundee United, skipped past Sasa Papac on the right-wing and fired in a cross which Scott McDonald failed to connect with properly to send it past the post when the Australian really should have got it on target.

Boruc was forced into the first save of the match form one of his own players in the 51st minute. Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra showed good skill to beat two Celtic players on the right-wing before sending in a low cross that Celtic captain Stephen McManus headed towards goal and Boruc had to be sharp to turn it round the post.

The Polish keeper then made a fantastic point-blank save from a David Weir bullet header after the defender connected superbly with a Pedro Mendes corner from the right in the 79th minute.

In the 90th minute Nakamura had Celtic’s first shot on target when McGregor made a good save from the Japanese international’s curling free-kick from 20 yards out.