Martin O’Neill believes the serious trophy challenges Celtic are facing this season should be a “wake-up call” for the club, as Danny Röhl admits he must deliver silverware at Rangers this season.

The two clubs go head-to-head at Ibrox for the second time in a week as they meet in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

It follows a thrilling 2-2 draw in the Scottish Premiership, which ultimately saw Hearts extend their advantage over the Glasgow duo at the top of the table.

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Celtic are now second in the league after their win over Aberdeen, but still five points adrift of the Jambos, with Rangers one point further back.

With St Mirren having claimed the League Cup and only one of these two clubs able to progress to the last-four of the Scottish Cup – both of the Old Firm face the prospect of a trophyless campaign. The last time that happened to both in the same season was over 70 years ago.

O’Neill: Challenge from others must be a “wake up call” for club

​​Celtic have won 13 out of the last 14 Premiership titles and numerous cups amid a gloriously successful period, but this season has been chaotic.

The Northern Irishman, in his second spell as interim boss this season after being manager between 2000 and 2005 said: “The overall picture is I think that it should be a wake-up call for the football club.

“You could say that in recent years fans have maybe been spoiled, no real challenges in many aspects.

“Being able to coast home in the last six or seven games of a season, which is great because you’ve done that. But the challenge has not been strong.”

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“Here it is. Here Hearts have arrived on the spot, maybe a few years before they thought they would do.

“Rangers have come strongly and spent some money getting good players in at the football club.

“So it’s been a challenge all season and certainly been the challenge in my couple of spells in here, where you’re winning some matches and you’re still trying to peg teams back.

“But we’re in with a chance anyway, that’s the point.

“I don’t think it (Sunday’s game) would have a serious bearing (on title), but in terms of confidence building, of course, those things always matter.

“But for the league, I’m not sure. It’s down now to what, nine games left.”

On the injury front, the 74-year-old revealed left-back Kieran Tierney will be assessed after sustaining a foot injury in the 2-1 win against Aberdeen, as will veteran goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who had an injection in his shoulder following a bout of illness.

“The injury Kieran’s had to his foot is clearing up. He’s just generally sore in every aspect, so we’ll see how he is tomorrow.

“Kasper trained today for the first time since the injection, so we will see how he is tomorrow.”

Röhl: Cup clash won’t impact title race

Meanwhile, Rangers boss Röhl is hoping his side can silence the huge Celtic support with a repeat of last weekend’s first-half display, when his side raced into a 2-0 lead before ultimately being pegged back after the restart.

There were just over 2,000 away supporters inside Ibrox on that occasion, but to comply with the rules of the Cup, Rangers have handed the whole of the Broomloan Stand to Celtic on Sunday, meaning around 7,500 fans will roar on the visitors at Ibrox for the first time since 2018.

Despite the second-half collapse against Celtic, Röhl insists Rangers will go into the game with “belief” and “trust” following a positive debrief.

The former Sheffield Wednesday boss said: “We spoke about the good things, we spoke about the things we have to improve.

“The last training session was good, especially yesterday. Good intensity, good mindset, very focused.

“Today we work on some details again and then we have one more session and then we go with the belief, we go with the trust. I think this is very crucial, especially the 50 minutes.

“You know better than me. I don’t know when was the last time Rangers dominated Celtic like this in the first 50 minutes.

“I think this is the focus where we are and what we want to do over 90 minutes, of course, or 95 and if it’s necessary over 120 minutes. I think this is crucial.”

Röhl, who revealed he has a full complement of players training, added: “We are still in a (title) race. Of course, we are disappointed after this late equaliser. We know that we have to improve, especially in the second half, but we know as well we had a big chance for 3-0 and we would not speak about this today.

“But football is football. It’s about decision-making, it’s about focus, what we can influence.

“I see a group who is really ready to go again and also the belief that we can beat them.

“The winner goes to the semi-final and is closer to the final. It is another competition, it won’t influence the chance for the title or not.”

When asked if he felt he had to deliver silverware this season, despite taking over a squad who were 13 points adrift of Hearts and bereft of confidence in October, he added: “As a Rangers manager, you have to. As a club, we have to. With our ambitions, we have to.

“I also don’t take excuse that we come from 13 points behind, this is part of the job. We took them to within two points [of Hearts] but the last two draws were unnecessary.”