Graeme Souness

All the focus is on the...

whoever is second.

And that pressure sometimes leads to indifferent performances from the team and individuals.

So it's all about being first up there.

The focus is off you.

It's all about the second team can't afford to slip up again.

And that's why these games are so important.

You've got to be winning them.

I'd been announced before the end of one season, and there was a Glasgow Cup final, which was between Rangers and Celtic, if my memory serves me well, and that was full-on, a game that shouldn't have been full-on.

That was my first introduction to it, and it made me realise how important these games were to the supporters.

Then you get into the real stuff when you're going to try and win the league, and I come back to it.

You have to win these games.

If you're winning these games, as I said, and I hope I'm not repeating myself too much, you have to win these games to take the pressure off you.

You have to try and somehow turn the spotlight and the pressure onto them, the opposition, in my case Celtic, so that they're the team playing under pressure, because you've beaten them.

It's a week of extreme criticism, and many times it's not deserved on the team that loses that game.

But that puts them under pressure, and that frees you up if you're top to go off and play with a bit of freedom.

I mean, Celtic...

You would see on paper, arguably, of the better players, but that counts for nothing in many, many cases.

I think Rangers are nearer to them.

It's going to be the first one coming up this weekend.