'Too early' to describe Old Firm derby as must-win, says Celtic boss O'Neill

Martin O'Neill believes it is too early in the season for Sunday's Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers to be described as "must-win" for either team.

O'Neill's men have won six straight games to open their latest Scottish Premiership title defence, but their results in other competitions have been far less impressive.

They were thrashed 3-0 by Rangers less than a week ago in a League Cup quarter-final tie at Ibrox, then were beaten 3-1 by Ferencvaros in their Europa League opener on Thursday.

Celtic have won six of their last eight home games against Rangers in the Premiership and could open up an eight-point lead over their rivals with a victory.

But O'Neill insists a negative result would be far from terminal for their season.

"No, it's too early in the season to say," O'Neill said when asked if the game was a must-win.

 "It would be great if we could win because we could go eight points clear, and we've won the previous six league games.

"The game is big. It's a big game whether it's played in September or March. It's a really big game. We need to be up for the game.

"Do we need to win the game? It would be nice to win; it wouldn't be great if we lost. That would be three on the trot, and of course, psychologically, it would be a blow."

O'Neill has come in for criticism from sections of Celtic's fanbase in recent days, both for his tactics and for his prickly demeanour in post-match interviews, but he admits supporters and pundits' questions are mostly justified. 

"That's the nature of the game," he said. "I can get a bit tetchy now and again. Sometimes I have to apologise for that.

"What I did say was that we don't seem to be questioned when we win football matches. But everybody has a right to ask.

"At the end of it all, I'm responsible for team selection, I'm responsible for the tactics, and of course I should be questioned."

There have only been two previous instances of Rangers facing Celtic in back-to-back matches across all competitions and winning both, doing so in September 1960 under Scot Symon and April 1998 under Walter Smith.

And Gers boss Derek McInnes could also become just the second manager to win his first two Old Firm derbies in charge against Celtic, after Graeme Souness in 1986.

But when asked if he would stick with the same tactical approach that worked last weekend, McInnes shifted the focus to his players, saying: "I think sometimes tactics can get a wee bit overplayed. 

"I think you normally win games through the individual moments and the performances of players being really high and really strong. 

"You don't win at Celtic Park unless everybody plays well. So, we've got to try and bring something similar and look for those improvements again."