McInnes on 'fire and ice', derby first & 'godsend' Miovski

[SNS] Rangers manager Derek McInnes has been speaking to the media before the League Cup quarter-final against Celtic on Sunday at Ibrox. Here are the key points: McInnes is excited to experience the Old Firm derby as a manager for the first time, saying "I've always wanted to do this job and I've always wanted to be involved in this fixture... it has all the makings of a brilliant cup tie." He believes the full capacity home crowd will be key. "We've got to bring the crowd with us," he says. "We'll have spells, they'll [Celtic] have spells. It's important that we tap into having 50,000 behind us and really make it as tough as possible for Celtic." The Ibrox boss emphasised the importance of striking the first blow against a good Celtic team to deliver the chance to "be relevant domestically again in terms of winning trophies". McInnes stressed the need for discipline alongside being competitive and aggressive, adding a "bit of fire and ice at the right times can help matters". On the potential impact of winning, he was keen to point out Rangers "are always getting judged and there's always pressure games" but it remains "really early on in the season to be making rash judgments on any team". McInnes believes Rangers are "slowly making progress" after four league victories in a row and are capable of winning the game, but Celtic "can cause us problems." The past three cup meetings between the clubs have gone beyond 90 minutes and McInnes is keen to draw from the positives of recent weeks, with a need to "be ruthless and more instinctive" in attack. He conceded a number of attacking players are young with limited experience of such an intense fixture, adding: "Sometimes these boys have just got to live it and thrive on it," with the feelgood factor a win may bring potentially massive. McInnes feels fortunate to have striker Bojan Miovski, who scored the late winner against St Mirren on Wednesday, at his disposal in an injury-hit frotline and described him as a "godsend". Scotland defender John Souttar - who is reportedly set to join Greek side Aris Thessaloniki - looks likely to depart within the coming days. McInnes adds on Souttar: "I spoke to John this morning, he trained. There's a bit of interest in him from one or two clubs, one club maybe a bit further down the line than the other. Maybe something will happen over the next two or three days." The Rangers boss pointed to a developing bond between the players in his squad that was evident after the late winner against St Mirren, adding it "feels like a dressing room that I recognise and that I want my team to be".