Danny Rohl was victorious on his Scottish Premiership debut as Rangers head coach on Sunday as his side defeated Kilmarnock 3-1 at Ibrox.
It was exactly the response required after the Gers awful 3-0 defeat away to SK Brann in Norway midweek in the German’s first match in charge.
But Rangers cannot rest on their laurels as the next week provides two further matches of huge importance. Firstly, a league trip to third placed Hibernian at Easter Road and then a trip to Hampden on Sunday to face Celtic in the League Cup semi-final.
Celtic are the current holders of the competition, having defeated Phillipe Clement’s Rangers side last season on penalties after a 3-3 draw in the final in which Nedim Bajrami, Mohammed Diomande and Danilo netted for the Gers.
Rangers were denied a clear penalty on Vaclav Cerny during the match when the Light Blues lead 1-0, with referee John Beaton giving an on-field decision for a free kick and despite the foul being clearly inside the area VAR duo Alan Muir and Frank Connor did not overturn the decision.
Now, a year on, with Celtic struggling as well, coming off two back-to-back defeats to Dundee and Derek McInnes’s Hearts, who top the table, Connor has been rewarded with another place on the officiating team for this final.
The Scottish Football Association have confirmed that the on-field officiating team will consist of Nick Walsh as the main referee, Connor and Daniel McFarlane on the sidelines, with Steven McLean and Andrew Dallas watching the monitors on the VAR team.
No fourth official has been confirmed yet but this should be communicated ahead of Sunday’s match.
Rangers are on an undefeated run against Celtic stretching back to last years final, including a 0-0 draw at Ibrox in August, and have not lost to Brendan Rodgers’ side in 90 minutes since the first Old Firm derby of last season. Previous to this however, Celtic had benefited massively from some controversial VAR decisions in their favour against Rangers.
Hopefully, Rohl and his side can do the job on the park, and not be cost by some lax officiating both on, and off it.
Beaton himself will take charge of Wednesday evening’s match in Edinburgh against Hibs, with David McGeachie and Gordon Crawford appointed linesmen. VAR will be Don Robertson and his assistant will be David Roome.