Martin O’Neill revealed his penalty shootout mentality ahead of Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final tie against Rangers on Sunday.

The last three cup ties between the sides have gone to extra-time with two of them going all the way to penalties.

On both of those occasions the Hoops have emerged triumphant, the most recent victory being the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final clash at Ibrox in March which was marred by fan disorder.

Ahead of the trip to Govan on Sunday, O’Neill acknowledged that the game may go all the way again.

He said: “We absolutely do (practice penalties), we’ll take it that far. We’ve always done this in cup competitions.

“It cannot replicate the stadium, the crowd, all of that type of stuff either home or away, it’s not like that at all.

“But at least you if you’ve had a couple of penalty shots, even if you’re, let’s say, a centre half or something and you’re asked to do it and if you’ve not practised it, well then it’ll be a double whammy for you because you’ve not done it in front of a big stadium and you’ve not even practiced it.

“So you might as well have a few shots and that’s what we do at the end of the training sessions.

“If you’re looking at about, let’s say five minutes to go in extra time, that is the first time that you probably really think about it.

“You might have had some of your best penalty takers start the game and come off through fatigue or whatever the case may be. And whatever you’re left with that’s it.

“But I defy any manager to say that they can think further ahead than that.”

Asked what he expected from a Rangers side that have won four games in a row under Derek McInnnes after a difficult start to his tenure as Gers boss, O’Neill said: “I think they’ll be strong. I think they’ll be robust.

“I think they’ll be ready to go and we need to be able to match that.”

There will be no Celtic fans inside Ibrox at the order of the authorities amid a ticket allocation spat between the two Glasgow giants.

However, midfielder Benjamin Nygren insists Celtic have to simply adapt to the circumstances.

He said: “When you’re in the game you just try to focus on the game. Of course, our fans are so important for us and we love their support, but it is what it is.

“We cannot do anything about it, so we just have to focus on the game and let our fans celebrate elsewhere.”