Ally McCoist admits Celtic were the team Rangers wanted to avoid in cup draw

Ally McCoist has admitted a meeting with Celtic was the Premier Sports Cup draw Rangers would have wanted to avoid, despite attempting to put a positive spin on the quarter-final showdown.

Martin O’Neill’s side will travel to Ibrox in the last eight after the Hoops and Derek McInnes’ men were paired together in Sunday’s draw.

The tie presents Celtic with an opportunity to eliminate their biggest rivals on their own patch and move one step closer to the first domestic silverware of the season.

For Rangers, it comes amid a difficult start under McInnes, and former Ibrox striker McCoist conceded Celtic were the opponents they would least have wanted to face.

Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist said: “It’s not the tie you least wanted, because the tie you least wanted was Celtic versus Rangers.

“Yeah. So, aye, I mean, bring it on. You’ve got to look on it as an opportunity, Jeff.

“It’s not been a good start, of course it’s not. And it’s a horrendous couple of injuries. Chermiti and Rommens, the left full-back’s done his calf out for about eight weeks, so those injuries certainly haven’t helped, but the level of performance hasn’t been good enough.

“All of a sudden, you get a good result and an opportunity to play the biggest rival. You must go and grab it with both hands and look on it as a great opportunity.”