Bullish Kris Boyd attempted to shut down Chris Sutton over his claim that the upcoming Rangers and Celtic showdown is a “dead rubber.”
But the Hoops’ hero came prepared with a case for the Light Blues and a “loser mentality” going into the final derby showdown of the campaign.
Brendan Rodgers’ takes the champions to Ibrox on Sunday just days after taking the Scottish Premiership title race mathematically out of the reach of their rivals.
Celtic hold a whopping 17-point gap at the top as they prepare to travel across the Glasgow – and will be looking for revenge after Barry Ferguson masterminded a win at Celtic Park for Rangers last time around.
But speaking to The Warm Up, Sutton was calm on the importance of the clash as he speculated on Celtic’s motivation for the game: “I couldn’t tell you if Celtic are going to take their foot off the gas a little bit but I think if I was in the dressing room, you’d want to be in a position where you went to Ibrox and really rubbed Rangers’ noses in it.”
Boyd insisted: “It means as much to them (Celtic) as it does to Rangers, there’s no getting away from it.
“Both of them will want to win the game of football, Brendan Rodgers will want to win it in style and I think for Rangers, in front of their own fans, they will want to put on a show, finish the season strong against your rivals, but the reality is, once the game’s finished, you need to assess and Rangers, domestically, have been miles off it again.”
Sutton responded: “But how can you assess it? Even if Rangers win it, it’s a dead rubber.” Boyd quickly clapped back: “There is no such thing as a dead rubber.”
The Parkhead legend said: “Well, it is a dead rubber. What can Rangers do?” Irked Boyd fired back: “So, you went into an Old Firm game thinking it was a dead rubber?”
But Sutton was ready with a clap back – referencing the wild scenes at Pittodrie last month after Ianis Hagi’s last gasp equaliser against Aberdeen.
Despite claiming a dramatic point, the league was all-but put out of Rangers’ reach after the full-time whistle with only goal difference keeping Celtic’s name of the trophy.
Sutton said: “Well, I will tell you the difference between Rangers and Celtic – I still talk to people about this – I still can’t fathom after that last minute equaliser at Aberdeen, the Rangers bench erupted and celebrated.
“That was the league finished that day – that is a complete loser’s mentality. I would have been ashamed”
Boyd stated: “I disagree.” Steven Naismith chimed in: “Do you not think that is just from getting something out of the game, in the last minute?”
Undeterred Sutton continued: “Drawing at Aberdeen and you know you are not going to get 42 goals back – what would you have thought? Would you have celebrated?”
Boyd said: “I would have. The point is, in the moment, you are down to 10 men and you have got yourself back into the game – but the harsh reality is when you go back in the dressing room – you have lost the league. It is just in the moment of scoring a goal.”
Sutton added: “The Rangers bench were turning to the Aberdeen fans celebrating – ‘oh we have just lost the league, that is the league done’ – it’s just mental.”
