ALEX McLEISH, the Rangers manager, is confident his side can still deliver a potentially job-saving victory over Celtic without Brahim Hemdani and Peter Lovenkrands.
The pair are doubts for tomorrow night's CIS Insurance Cup quarter-final at Parkhead after being substituted during Saturday's goalless draw with Aberdeen.
Hemdani, the French holding midfielder, has a thigh strain, while Lovenkrands is suffering from the effects of a virus.
Rangers have not won in their last four matches, but McLeish has faith in the strength of his squad to overcome Gordon Strachan's league leaders.
"We may be forced into some changes with the likes of Ian Murray, Hamed Namouchi and Alex Rae offering us different options, " said McLeish.
"We have been working on different things in the last couple of days and we will make our minds up nearer kick-off. We are limited with the players we have out, but we still have players who are good enough and they should be confident enough to do the job."
Strachan faces an injury problem of his own as Chris Sutton is doubtful with a hamstring problem.
With Craig Beattie and Maciej Zurawski already out, the Celtic manager's striking options could be limited to John Hartson and Shaun Maloney.
Celtic, meanwhile, have been linked with a transfer move for Steven Pienaar, Ajax's South African midfielder, who could be available for about GBP2m in January.
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