By Alan Hutton

16th Mar, 2023 | 9:40am

Rangers expert drops 'big' Celtic claim as new details emerge

Alan Hutton has urged Scottish Premiership teams to “get to the level” of Celtic and Rangers.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Gers defender said the Glasgow rivals have always led the way in Scotland because they are the biggest clubs.

Both Celtic and Rangers have made it to the penultimate stage of another cup competition and will face off in the semi-final of the Scottish cup next month.

The Hoops cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over third-placed Hearts on Saturday (11 March) to secure their ticket to Hampden.

As quoted by footballscotland after the game (11 March), former Celt John Hartson questioned the level of the Scottish top flight.

Celtic are nine points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership and Hearts are 25 points behind second place.

Hartson questioned whether the Scottish Premiership was strong enough given the gulf between first and third place in the table.

When asked if there is a problem with the level of the league given how far ahead the Glasgow sides are, Hutton told Football Insider: “I think that has been the case for as long as I can remember.

“Rangers and Celtic always had the biggest budgets, they could attract the best players.

“It is a difficult one because you need to spend money, you need to have a certain level of player within your squad if you want to go and compete in Europe.

“The biggest test for these teams is playing each other. So it is up to the other teams to try and get to that level.

“It is always going to be difficult because they do not have the money to spend, they are not winning leagues, they are not getting far in European competitions.

“It is difficult but other teams need to try and get to the level of Celtic and Rangers, as hard as it is.“

In other news, pundit makes ‘massive’ Celtic claim after source’s £46m summer reveal.