Celtic vs. Rangers: “Nervous” Martin O’Neill plays down ‘Demolition Derby’ repeat in Scottish League Cup semi-final

Martin O’Neill has admitted that he is feeling the nerves ahead of Celtic’s “big match” against Old Firm rivals Rangers in the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup on Sunday.

The 73-year-old was appointed interim Celtic boss on Monday and is working alongside Shaun Maloney following the shock resignation of Brendan Rodgers, who has since been slammed for his “divisive, misleading, and self-serving” behaviour.

O’Neill kick-started his second spell in charge of Celtic in emphatic fashion, as the reigning Premiership champions eased to a 4-0 home victory over Falkirk on Wednesday night, moving them to within six points of leaders Hearts who dropped two points in a draw with St Mirren last time out.

Twenty-five years ago during his first stint in charge of Celtic, O’Neill introduced himself to the Old Firm derby with a memorable 6-2 triumph over Rangers, as two goals each from Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson condemned Dick Advocaat's Gers to a humbling defeat at Parkhead.

That victory, dubbed ‘Demolition Derby’ by Celtic fans, sent the Hoops on their way to win a domestic treble in the 2000-01 season under O’Neill, and having previously lifted only three major trophies in the 1990s, the Glaswegian giants have since won 19 out of 25 Premiership titles as well as 23 cup competitions during a dominant era in the club’s history.

O’Neill: ‘Replicating Demolition Derby might be extremely difficult’

Reflecting on his first Old Firm fixture at a press conference on Friday, O'Neill said: "Well, replicating that might be extremely difficult, scoring six goals against that side. I'd settle for a really lousy 1-0 victory if we could get it.

"Obviously fond memories, it was great, and it did give us a real springboard really, for that season. Because in November time, Rangers took us apart at Ibrox (5-1 in the reverse fixture), but I think we had enough self-belief about us that we could withstand that and that's what happened.

"Some lads come up and say to me, 'That was a great game', and they weren't even born. They tell me their grandfathers and fathers were talking about it.

"It became a really pivotal match for us, not just that season, but probably for continuing on."

Across his first spell as Celtic boss, O'Neill won 16 of his 27 Old Firm derbies (D3 L8), but he only won one of his four encounters against Rangers at Hampden Park and celebrated just one League Cup triumph during his five-year stint between 2000 and 2005.

O’Neill admits nerves before latest Old Firm battle at Hampden Park

Sharing his memories of Old Firm derbies, O'Neill said: "Just a nervousness for about 72 hours before and then, if you got the result, a great relief."

Asked if he felt any different this time around, he added: "Absolutely not. No, no, worse."

"By the time we had played Rangers (during his first spell), I think we had played five or six games, so I knew my players pretty well inside out at that stage.

"This is something I wouldn't know about our boys. I learned a great deal at the Falkirk game, which was great for us. A restoration of confidence, so we'll go into this game with that confidence and that's the most important thing.

"It's been intense for me to look at young faces and try to put them into context, into just about everything. Even if I was here a month or something, it would be really hard to gauge exactly what the players can do."

Celtic are the reigning League Cup champions after beating Rangers 5-4 on penalties in the final of last season’s competition following a thrilling 3-3 draw after 120 minutes.