Dundee United will have to win the mental battle as well as the physical contest at Ibrox, according to manager Jackie McNamara.
Belief, concentration and discipline will all be words used frequently by McNamara as he prepares his players to take on Rangers in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.
It is widely accepted the Tangerines have the talent, pace and skill required to see off the Light Blues, even on their own park.
However, McNamara will be telling his men they need to use their heads if they are to cope with a huge occasion in front of a massive crowd.
He also believes that talented teenagers like John Souttar and Ryan Gauld will benefit from having faced Celtic at Hampden at the same stage of this competition last season, even though they narrowly lost that game.
“I think that discipline is crucial as well as concentration,” said McNamara.
“Last weekend we didn’t concentrate and lost a goal to Celtic after five minutes. It took us until the second half to get our game going.
“We got deeper and deeper, and were nervous. So that’s something we need to make sure we don’t do on Saturday.
“I know there has been a lot of attention on the game this week but the players have to go out there and enjoy the occasion.
“They shouldn’t let it worry them. They have to make sure they don’t freeze that is another crucial part of it.
“It is important they stay relaxed, because I know it can be quite difficult. I remember I used to worry coming up to Old Firm games,” added the former Hoops defender.
“But as I got older I tried not to think about it and just turned up on the day and played.
“We know there is a lot riding on it, a lot of pressure to get to a cup final. So it is a good thing that some of the younger lads played a semi-final against Celtic last season.
“They have experienced that and there aren’t many 16 or 17-year-olds who can say that. Indeed, there are a lot of people who are in their 30s that haven’t played at Hampden, never mind being in their teens.
“I think that experience will stand them in good stead.
“It is a great game and this is what we are in football for. They should go out and enjoy it.”
United themselves won’t be making any presumptions about the outcome, but they do have four players Nadir Ciftci, Gary Mackay-Steven, Andy Robertson and John Rankin on yellow cards and another booking would rule them out of the final should the team get there.
McNamara will no doubt have a few words in their ears before kick-off, asking them to shut out what could be a hostile 30,000-strong home support at the supposedly neutral venue.
“It is a home game for them that’s just stating a fact,” he said.
“If it had been at Tannadice, it would have been our home game. We will take a good crowd down but, ultimately, Rangers are at home.
“I’m not talking about tickets or the crowd, I just mean it’s their home park and that they play there every second week. They are used to it.
“I am not looking for excuses, it’s just a fact.”
As well as the mind games, given what is at stake there could be some tasty physical challenges. At times this season, notably when they were knocked out of the League Cup by Inverness, United have been outmuscled by the opposition.
However, they have improved that side of their game markedly once again notably against ICT, this time in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
Therefore, McNamara is confident they will stand their ground.
“We have to match them physically, that is a given, but I think we did that in the last round at Inverness,” he said.
“We matched them and got a couple of goals up in that match. We will need to do that again against Rangers, but I think we have learned as the season has gone on.
“You look at every game and see that you need energy and commitment. It is not all about: ‘Give us the ball and we will play’.
“You have to earn the right to play and we have to do that by taking the game to Rangers, playing with high pressure to get the ball and when we get it we want to cause them problems.
“We don’t want to sit off them. We are not that sort of team and we need to get at them.”
McNamara is unmoved by the fact that United have been installed as favourites to win by the bookmakers, and believes too much is being read into Rangers’ defeat in the Ramsdens Cup final by Raith Rovers last weekend.
“I don’t let it bother me, to be honest,” said McNamara, referring to odds that have his team as short priced as 5-6 on.
“Before we played Inverness in the quarters, everybody had us as fifth favourites behind Aberdeen, Rangers, St Johnstone and Inverness.
“Suddenly, because they (Rangers) have had a bad result last Sunday, we are everybody’s favourites to win at Ibrox. But nothing has changed for me from last week to this week.
“We know it will be a hard game. I know they will be more fired up if you can get more fired up for a home game.
“There has been a lot of backlash on the back of the Raith Rovers game, but they have lost two games all season in cup competitions one against Forfar, one at the weekend there.
“Sunday’s final wasn’t a great game, it was very defensive. But they had chances to win it, hit the post and had a couple of headers from Bilel Mohsni.
“We talk about thin lines in football and that’s a game they could have won. Yet a few minutes later they lost a goal because a guy (Mohsni) trips and falls, which can happen in a game.
“So I don’t read too much into talk about their players not being good enough or the manager being at fault. My approach hasn’t changed.
“Possibly Rangers losing at the weekend makes our life even more difficult, given the stick they’ve taken.”