Derek McInnes warns Celtic and Rangers that the rest of the teams ‘feel’ they can hurt them as he targets a second Kilmarnock upset.

The Rugby Park manager believes his players must believe they can dethrone the champions for the second time in four months.

Derek McInnes believes that most top-flight teams believe they have a good chance of beating the Old Firm these days.

Kilmarnock 1- 0 Celtic

Kilmarnock 1-0 Rangers

In the first month of the season, the Kilmarnock manager led his team to home victories over Rangers and Celtic. And, with the Hoops visiting Ayrshire on league duty tomorrow, he is hoping for a repeat of their Viaplay Cup triumph. “I think most teams now playing against the Old Firm feel there’s a chance against them,” McInnes said [Daily Record].

“The league is so tight. Celtic and Rangers obviously have a huge advantage over everyone else in the league and that’s probably never going to change. But I think teams now have to go into games with them with a good mindset. Celtic and Rangers have both dropped points to different teams this season and any sort of positive result against them is something most teams feel they can achieve.

“Celtic have got a lot of very good players in key positions. It’s important they don’t enjoy the game too much. Last Sunday was a reference for us because St Johnstone were very good in the first half and Celtic struggled to get any sort of rhythm. It looked like a potential big upset but Celtic turned up second half and showed how good they can be. You have to make it difficult for them because they normally win when they enjoy the game.”

When the two teams met in the cup in August, Marley Watkins’ goal was the deciding factor. Kilmarnock were defeated 3-1 by the Hoops in the Premiership at Celtic Park in October. McInnes, on the other hand, will draw on the memory of the cup victory, saying, “It helps with the messaging to the players.” We always finish games strong physically. We got the game-winning goal at the last second the other night, and it wasn’t by chance; we were finishing strong.

“The players work so hard on their fitness. We’re strong at home as well and we’ll tap into all of that.

“Tactically we’ll set up to get a result, but the mental side is huge for a player. You can give them confidence from past results. It’s what’s between their ears that’s important and they need to genuinely believe they can get the result. Celtic can make you suffer at times, they can test your organisation and ability but having that confidence is vitally important.

“The fact the majority of our players on Sunday have beaten them already a couple of months ago is worth so much to me. It shows what can be done.”

In other news, Wayne Mardle is forced to apologise for his response to the Celtic vs. Rangers question.