Rangers manager Jo Potter believes her side could have the mental edge over Celtic as the teams go head-to-head in the Sky Sports Cup semi-final in Airdrie tomorrow night.
It will be a debut for new Celtic manager Elena Sadiku who will take charge after assuming the role vacated by Fran Alonso.
She could hardly have a bigger game to walk into.
Potter’s side have been the team to beat in the SWPL this term. Unbeaten and with a three point lead at the top of the table, Rangers have not conceded a goal since November 5th.
They have already had the best of Celtic this season in a game that Alonso described as one of the worst of his time at Celtic with the former England internationalist accepting that her side are way ahead of where she expected them to be at this stage of the season.
“We could do [have an edge][ with the league position and that result the last time we played them,” said Potter. “Being the underdog is the best position to be in because you have nothing to lose. We know we have won nothing yet.
“They might fancy themselves as the underdogs but the way I see is that this is a Rangers v Celtic game and anything can happen really.”
“But these are the games everyone gets up for,” she said.”We need to make sure we are on our game from the get-go.
“We will give Celtic all the respect in the world. But we have gone through the same routines but we are just looking at what we can do. It is a bit of the unknown but we can’t look too much at Celtic. The one thing we can control is us.
“We are at the top of the table and we are there to be shot at,” she continued.
“Everyone is chasing us. A little bit of pressure comes with that. They sometimes say it is easier to get there and harder to stay there but it is not been that easy to get there as there as good teams in this league.
“We are miles ahead where I thought we would be at this stage but we not where we want to be yet. The semi-final is a big test for us but I think we are ready.”
Potter, meanwhile, did who did some BBC punditry work before going into full-time coaching, believes that former Ibrox midfielder Joey Barton has become ‘laughable’ after a torrent of toxic abuse aimed at females within the game.
“I try not to listen too much to it,” she said. “It becomes irrelevant. He won’t get that much traction for that much longer. He keeps changing angles that he is going at every single time.
“For me, it is a little bit laughable. We can’t take that seriously. I don’t listen to anything he says and take it seriously.
“We need to concentrate on ignoring any negativity that comes along aimed at females in football because we have made so many strides that if we give him more airtime it is just feeding into what he wants.”
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