RANGERS HAVE CLOSED GAP
It's been a shade over 13 months since Rangers and Celtic last met - in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden on 1 February 2015.
Not that long ago in terms of time but a relative eternity in the lives of these two clubs.
That semi-final was the strangest kind of procession for Ronny Deila's team. On the face of it, a 2-0 victory might suggest that it was relatively close, when it was not.
A two-goal deficit might hint that the gap between them at that point wasn't that large, when, in reality, it was.
Everybody knew the score. Rangers avoided a humiliation, but there was no denying the difference in class and feel-good. The clubs were worlds apart.
Now that the sides have been drawn together in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, back at Hampden in mid-April, the starting pistol has sounded on the countdown. It will be exhaustive, as ever.
When the draw was made, you didn't know what to reach for first - the telephone or the tin hat. Both will be useful in the six-week build-up to this thing.