Celtic's Scales not writing off Rangers in title race

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Celtic defender Liam Scales is refusing to discount Rangers from the Scottish Premiership title race before Sunday's meeting of the two sides.

The defending champions started the weekend three points below leaders Hearts and four points above Rangers.

"I don't think they'll see themselves out of the title race, because they're not," said Republic of Ireland international Scales, 27. "They can still win the league.

"I don't see it being much different for them. It's obviously a must-win for them in terms of winning the league. So, they're probably going to give everything they have to win the game.

"I don't think you need any more motivation than this rivalry that we have as well. We're expecting them to be at their very best and we want to match and go beyond that."

Hearts can extend their lead by winning at Motherwell on Saturday evening before Sunday's match at Celtic Park.

"I find whenever I do watch it, it never goes well," Scales explained. "So, I'll probably just leave it off, watch something else and then check the result after.

"You can't control it and you'll end up either getting frustrated or getting your mind taken off what's actually important to us, which is the game on Sunday."

And he added of Celtic's recent form: "We've got things right tactically. Off the ball we've been a lot better, pressing we've been a lot better. We've actually scored goals from pressing. Teams are having less joy against us with the ball. That's played a big part in it.

"Obviously it's crunch time now as well. We know what's at stake and that's probably pushing us an extra bit harder to get the results we need.

"You go into games all the time wanting to win them and that is generally the case at Celtic where there isn't room for error because you're expected to win all your games. But now everything's must-win. So, that does play a part as well."