What Celtic star Alistair Johnston has said about Rangers threat as fear evident after Hampden thriller

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Rangers certainly showed during the Premier Sports Cup final that they are getting closer to Celtic.

It took the lottery of penalties for the other half of Glasgow to lift the trophy and it was very far from some of the recent dominant derbies we’ve seen.

Indeed it could all have been so different if Gers had been awarded the penalty they deserved in extra-time.

The Scottish FA have reportedly admitted to Rangers chiefs that their officials got it wrong when VAR failed to award a spot kick for Liam Scales’ pull on Vaclav Cerny.

SFA chief Ian Maxwell publicly tried to defend VAR though, insisting mistakes will be made due to human nature.

Furious Rangers fans have taken aim at the governing body over that and are demanding action is taken over the ‘bizarre’ call.

Former referees have also been piling on in Rangers’ defence.

Des Roache and Steve Conroy fumed at Maxwell’s statement, accusing him of ‘brushing things off’ and actually bringing more pressure on referees.

Aside from all the talk about referees and VAR, there is the important point that Gers’ performance was actually pretty good.

• READ MORE: What Rangers future holds for Alex Lowry as club ‘outline stance’

Johnston talks up Rangers threat after Celtic draw

Rangers took a deserved lead into half-time before quickly falling behind after the break.

But the team showed brilliant character to TWICE get themselves back into it, the second with Danilo’s header just after Celtic looked to have won it with Nicolas Kuhn’s late goal.

Rangers and manager Philippe Clement have earned plaudits for their display and the manager’s tactical tweaks that helped along the way.

While Light Blues keeper Jack Butland insists Rangers ARE getting closer to Celtic and made a pledge ahead of the next derby.

It would seem that feeling is creeping in across the city too.

Celtic defender Alistair Johnston said: “They’re a good team. The league is still early. We’re in December and there’s a long way to go. I think last year was a perfect example of that. We had a pretty solid lead then we threw it away and managed to claw it back at the very end.

“There’s going to be twists and turns. We can only really focus on ourselves.

“At the end of the day, if you just consistently pick up three points you’re going to leave yourself in a pretty good position going into matches against [Rangers].

“Normally they end up being title deciders, but if you can give yourself as big a buffer as possible going into those matches it helps take some pressure off and leaves yourself in a good position no matter what the result is in those matches.

“But, again, we’ve shown a great ability to win these kinds of matches and I think that’s something that’s deep rooted in this team and comes from the leaders we have in James Forrest and Callum McGregor and all those kinds of guys.

“We were expecting Rangers to kick on as well, and over the past couple of weeks they have done, but we know if we play our best football it’s really all about us at the end of the day.”

Can Rangers challenge Celtic this season?

Rangers are definitely getting closer to Celtic on the pitch, but is this season too soon for talk of a title challenge?

The 11-point gap in the table would suggest so.

It should be remembered there was a similar gulf when Clement took over last season but that was earlier with more time to claw it back.

Celtic also had a serious wobble and are highly unlikely do so again, certainly to that extent.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	15	14	1	0	44	4	40	43
2	AberdeenAberdeen	16	10	4	2	30	18	12	34
3	RangersRangers	15	10	2	3	27	9	18	32
4	MotherwellMotherwell	16	8	1	7	22	26	-4	25
5	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	16	6	6	4	25	19	6	24
6	ST MirrenST Mirren	17	6	3	8	22	28	-6	21