Friday 13 April 2018 17:39, UK
Celtic defender Mikael Lustig is confident his side will extend their Old Firm unbeaten run to 10 matches when they meet Rangers in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.
Lustig suggested that Rangers' poor record in recent Old Firm matches could impact the mindsets of those playing for Graeme Murty's side in the Sky Live match on Sunday.
"Obviously you need to find a new way to play or do something different, and that cannot be good," said Lustig.
"But we will see what they do. We should be favourites, absolutely."
Confidence is derived from Celtic's 3-2 victory at Ibrox when the sides last met in March, as the visitors twice came from behind to win the game with 10 men.
"It is massive, the way things happened in the game," Lustig added.
"They probably thought they had a really good chance to win it and we go down one man and still win, so it is really good for us."
Victory at Hampden Park on Sunday would take Celtic into the final of the Scottish Cup and one step closer to their second successive treble, with the Hoops 13 points clear of second-placed Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.
Lustig added: "They have been struggling a bit and they have tried everything to take new players in and make them a better team so of course it seems they have maybe taken a small step.
"Last season, we were 30 points ahead of them and it is not that amount right now.
"If you look at it that way, they have maybe become a little bit closer but we have the chance to win a treble."
Despite their success, the Sweden international still believes Celtic are capable of better and that they would be aiming to find another gear on Sunday.
"We are still not really happy with the way we have been playing this season," he added. "We know we can do better. If we look to ourselves as well, we feel we can play better.
"We're here for winning trophies and doing our talking on the pitch. We've done it so far and hopefully we can do it again."
