Michael Beale and why Rangers won't get Viaplay Cup final silver bullet as new signings play Celtic with 'freedom'

Come Monday morning Michael Beale knows he’ll be high as a kite or lower than one of those Chinese spy balloons the US airforce last week blasted out the sky.

But as the Ibrox boss prepares to lead out his team at Hampden, he doesn’t buy into the theory that defeat to Celtic could potentially burst his side’s bubble. Rangers have been floating along nicely since his appointment, carried along by the fresh breeze that followed Steven Gerrard’s former sidekick through the door two-and-a-half months back. With 13 wins and a draw under his belt so far, expectation levels have inflated at just as quick a rate as his squad’s confidence levels.

The hot air surrounding Sunday’s showdown, however, it that something has got to give, whether it be Beale’s unbeaten start or the even lengthier run that Ange Postecoglou’s rampant Celtic side have been on since their last loss in mid-September. The theory goes that whoever fails to bring home the trophy risks being brought back to earth with a bump. But Beale is already looking beyond this weekend’s contest and to the even bigger challenges that lie ahead.

“After this weekend my job doesn’t get any bigger or smaller,” he said. “It’s still going to be a huge job come Monday and my in-tray is going to be really big.

“This is a one-off game, would I like us to be in an even stronger place going in? Yes but I don’t remember too many times when both teams were going in on the back of such long unbeaten runs.

“Naturally something has got to give and I’m hoping I’m delighted on Sunday evening and not lower than a snake’s belly. But ultimately on Monday we’ve got a lot of work to do.

“We don’t want to go too overboard on it because it’s just one game. We’ve still got to play however many