Source: PA
Naismith promises cup calm
Rangers midfielder Steven Naismith has brushed off any suggestions that the volatility of their recent Scottish Cup clash against Celtic will carry over into the Co-operative Insurance Cup final.
Celtic's 1-0 defeat of Rangers on March 2 sparked a summit between the police, Scottish Government, the football authorities and both clubs, with the ramifications seeing both sets of players visited by police officers on Friday to be reminded of their wider responsibilities.
But Naismith believes there has been too much made of the Celtic Park clash, which saw Rangers players sent off and Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Rangers assistant Ally McCoist handed touchline bans for their post-match clash.
The Scotland midfielder, who missed the game through injury, insists it will not feature in the players' thoughts when they take to the field for the Old Firm final at Hampden.
"It was in the papers for quite a while and I think that was probably part of the problem," Naismith said. "After the game punishments were served out, the people that mattered said their piece and everybody should move on from there.
"It shouldn't be a case of dragging it out to the next game and now we're sitting here talking about it again. Sunday is a totally different game, it's at Hampden, it's one of the major fixtures of the season, the first silverware up for grabs. That's what both teams are going to be thinking about, not the last Old Firm game."
