Dundee United defender Scott Severin has told Celtic boss Neil Lennon the Hoops will have no one to blame but themselves should Rangers be crowned champions.
In the same breath, Severin also reassured any doubters that the Tangerines will be doing all they can to get the win at Ibrox tonight that would hand the advantage back to Lennon and his men.
The reason United will be battling for every ball will not be because it will influence the flag race, though it will be because they still have a chance of catching Hearts for third place and qualifying for the automatic Europa League spot that comes with it.
In the aftermath of Celtic’s victory over Kilmarnock on Sunday, Lennon discussed United’s trip to play the other half of the Old Firm, saying he hoped Peter Houston’s players “compete” in order to do the Parkhead side a favour.
But Severin reckons that the Celts, who blew their advantage by losing to Inverness Caley Thistle last week, only have themselves to blame for now needing favours from others.
“He (Lennon) is just trying to get a reaction from us, isn’t he?” said Severin. “If you look back, all Celtic had to do was win their four games and the title was theirs. They only have themselves to blame that they are needing favours from other teams now.
“But that’s nothing to do with us. He doesn’t need to wind us up though because we are playing for plenty ourselves. If we win against Rangers and Celtic beat Hearts then we are in with a real shout of third place.
“The lads are buzzing. We played very well against Motherwell at the weekend and have been scoring goals. We knew Hearts would have a tough game against Rangers so, by beating Motherwell last Saturday, we are still in the hunt for third.
“All we can do is win our last two matches and see what happens. We are going to Ibrox to win the game, no doubt about that.
“It will be difficult because they are flying, but we won there not long ago. We have done it once so why can’t we do it again?
“If we start the game well they might get nervous and we can hopefully capitalise on that. They will create chances against us so we will have to be strong, but we have plenty of match-winners ourselves.
“We have attacking players more than capable of hurting teams so we are going there with confidence.”
United boss Houston has paid no attention to Lennon’s comments and insisted he has never sent his players out with anything other than the intent of getting three points.
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“We always try to win every game we play in and this one will be no different,” he said. “I have never sent a team out not to try. There have been many times I have come out afterwards and said I have thought we didn’t play well but you will never once hear me say my team did not try.
“We have had games I have been disappointed in and have criticised the players. But under no circumstances have I felt we did not put the effort in.
“All I will say is that Dundee United are going to Ibrox to get try to three points, just like we go to win the game wherever we go.
“We have won at Ibrox before and are looking to do it again. We are looking forward to it. We have scored eight goals in the last two homes games, so the boys are confident.”
Houston has shown tactical ambition as a coach when going to Glasgow to face the big two and, with a draw no use to them as they chase Hearts, it will be the same again.
“One thing we always do is go for it,” he said. “We need to win if we are going to get third so we will be trying to do that.
“In my time here we have never gone to Ibrox or Parkhead and sat in defending the 18-yard line that is not what we do. We will go and attack.
“Sometimes it goes for you in these games and sometimes it goes against you we will have to wait and see. But we will be going there with the aim of getting three points to keep us in with a shout of catching Hearts.
“Third is still a long shot because Hearts are in the driving seat but we will still be trying for it. Getting fourth is a great achievement and if we can better that by going third then everyone would be delighted. We would love the opportunity to play Hearts in a winner-takes-all match to decide third.
“Our form from March onwards has been very good. Only Celtic, Rangers and Motherwell have beaten us in that time. We bounced back from a defeat at Celtic Park to beat Motherwell, so the players here have a great resilience.”
Rangers manager Walter Smith, meanwhile, handed out a reminder to Lennon that United have already won at Ibrox this season. When quizzed about the Celtic gaffer’s remarks, Smith said, “I’ve got no comment to make on that at all. The games that we’ve had have been difficult enough games for us and that’s all I want to say at the present moment.”
However, Smith did point out that United were the last team to beat Rangers, when they left Ibrox with a 3-2 victory in early April.
“Dundee United have won here at Ibrox this season so that’s how difficult a game we will face. United played exceptionally well in the game we lost, although I would blame ourselves for the defeat as much as anything else.
“It was an excellent game and Dundee United played very well. United have probably been, in the second half of the season, the best of the teams outside of the Old Firm and Peter Houston deserves a great deal of credit for the way he has handled the team, not just now, but since he took over from Craig Levein.
“Everyone at Rangers knows the difficulty of the game we are going to have and that’s enough for us.”
United only have one injury worry with midfielder Danny Swanson, who missed the win over the Steelmen, struggling due to a hamstring strain.
The Light Blues have no injury fresh injury worries and are likely to be unchanged from the side that started in the 4-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox on Saturday.