Ronny Deila says gap between Celtic and Rangers has closed

Ronny Deila admits the gap between Celtic and Rangers has closed this season ahead of their Scottish Cup semi-final meeting on Sunday.

The teams will play at Hampden - live on Sky Sports - just over a year on from their last meeting, a straightforward 2-0 win for the Parkhead side in last season's League Cup.

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While Rangers failed to gain promotion to the Premiership via the Championship play-offs after finishing third last term, they have taken the second-tier title with comfort this year.

Indeed, their progress under Mark Warburton in the last few months has many Ibrox fans feeling much more confident of seeing their side win the latest instalment of the Old Firm derby.

Asked if the gap between the teams had got smaller, Celtic manager Deila said: "Yeah. We will see on Sunday, then you will get the real answer.

"Of course, this year they won the league and they didn't do that last year. They have taken a step up.

"I think we are quite the same. If you see in the league, if we win the rest of the games we will end up with almost the same amount of points.

"We have put ourselves in a good situation there and we were also in the semi-final in the League Cup.

"What has been disappointing is what we have done in Europe. That is something we want to do better with next year."

Rangers have just two players who have encountered more than one Old Firm game previously whereas Celtic have five.

Deila thinks that could make a difference and added: "It's always positive to have experience and to get used to winning football games, big games.

"It's all about experience and using that in a good way. We have played a lot of important games this season and we have done it before as well.

"This is the fourth semi-final we have been to in two years. We are looking forward to it and we see it as a big, big opportunity for us."

Don't miss Rangers v Celtic in the Scottish Cup, live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 11am on Sunday.