INVITED to accept that it would be "unforgivable" if his team did not now go on to win the title, Rangers manager Walter Smith squirmed and said it was "a helluva word". When Steven Davis was invited to do likewise minutes earlier, the reaction it drew from the scorer of the goal that suddenly makes the league the Ibrox men's to lose was in complete contrast.
"Definitely. It's a big thing for us," the Irishman said of Rangers' hitting the front, for only the second time in six months, with three games to play. "We have managed to get it back in our own hands and got ourselves a couple of points in front.
We need to follow this up with a good result on Wednesday (away to Hibs] and then kick on from there."
Davis, who modestly claimed that Kenny Miller "laid it on a plate" for him in delivering the cross the midfielder slammed in after 37 minutes, did not side-step the fact that yesterday may prove the turning point in ending Rangers longest spell without a championship success in 24 years.
"The pressure is always big in Old Firm games, but was especially today. There was a lot riding on it," he said. "It could go a long way to deciding the title but both teams have three tough games still to come and we just have to see it through."
Davis talked of Rangers having ground out the three points after sitting too deep and allowing Celtic to put them under more pressure than they would have liked. However, although the visitors had more possession and territorial advantage, on few occasions did they turn these into openings.
The boundless energy of Maurice Edu in his first derby had much to do with this fact, and the Northern Ireland internationalist was full of praise for the contribution of the American since Barry Ferguson was banished six weeks ago. "Mo is improving every game he plays," Davis said. "It was his first experience of the Old Firm derby and I think he handled it very well. He is becoming a very important player for us."
Inevitably, the topsy-turvy nature of last season is now being invoked to declare this championship far from over. But this time around Rangers do not have the exertions and fixture congestion brought on by a run to the UEFA Cup final. And for all that the Ibrox men had a seven-point lead with two games in hand going into the last three months of this season, by this juncture they were what Celtic are now: the chasing team. In turn, with six straight victories ahead of going to Hibs, entertaining Aberdeen and finishing up away to United, they are what Celtic were then: the side in form. "I hope we can learn from last season and the disappointment we had and go on to win it this year," Davis said
Drawing on last season was a recurring theme yesterday. Celtic defender Darren O'Dea took it up for very different reasons to Davis after declaring yesterday's Ibrox loss a "blip". "We have experience of being behind and will look to put it to the best use in the run-in," he said. In the Ibrox press room, O'Dea didn't look like a man who thought his team's chances of a fourth consecutive championship had gone belly-up. "We are very confident we can win our last three games," he said, the first of these a home encounter against Dundee United on Tuesday. "We have to concentrate on ourselves and hope other teams do us a favour."
The defender didn't believe Celtic's performance warranted them now requiring assistance at the same time as they require to take full points from confrontations with United at home, Hibs away, and Hearts in their own backyard. "We were probably the better team but they've won and we've got to pick ourselves up for Tuesday." They might have a devilish job picking up a support who won't be as philosophical about the team's fate after yesterday.
