Ronny Deila joked that he thought he'd walked into a game of Texas Hold 'Em poker when he sat in front of the assembled media hordes in the bowels of Hampden Park yesterday afternoon.

Yet, while the Celtic manager may be a novice when it comes to squaring up to Rangers, he is well aware that this is a game where he can ill-afford to lose any kind of face.

In many ways Sunday's League Cup semi-final at Hampden is a pivotal one for Deila.

The Hoops boss may have immersed himself in YouTube this week as he checked out previous footage of the tie and conversations with John Kennedy and John Collins will have illuminated him in terms of what the game means to the club.

Collins' free-kick from the closed-door game in 1994 at Ibrox when Celtic won 2-0 have been discussed and viewed, but in many ways he will go into the match utterly unprepared for the mayhem that it can give rise to.

What he won't be unprepared for, however, is the massive weight of expectation that sits upon his shoulders as he prepares to take Celtic into the first Old Firm game in almost three years.

"You build trust through experiences and results," he said. "So far we have quite good results and if we can continue winning it is going to be even better.

"I understand the expectations and you all understand my expectations as well.

"But this is not the first time in my life there is an expectation to win. It is how you handle that which is the most important thing."

Deila put on his best game face as he spoke of his excitement ahead of the clash although it is fair to say that when the whistle sounds to signal the end of the game on Sunday afternoon he will have a keener understanding if what Scottish football's landmark derby is all about.

And while he may be spending every waking moment plotting how he wants his team to play, he has admitted that he may well enjoy the game only when it is all over.

"Football is not always fun when you play, but it is fun afterwards," he said.

"Everything you have seen and experienced you can then take it in and I think it will be a great experience.

"I think it is not going to be too emotional before the game because you so concentrated on what you are going to do and the task to try and win the game. But hopefully if we have a good result it is easier to enjoy the feelings and the emotions.

"I have experienced big matches before. I have fought for trophies before and it's the same problems you encounter going into them all.

"I know how to cope with the pressure and that's the most important thing."

Deila has spent this week cooped up in Lennoxtown working on transfer window dealings as well as outlining his plans for this Sunday's game.

He has been removed from the excitement around the game in the city, but he is well aware that for any Celtic manager, results against Rangers will always be critical.

Deila is the first Hoops boss to ever go seven months in the job without having to square up to Rangers.

"In some ways that time was important to him in the early days where it afforded him the chance to bed into the club and he now goes into the meeting with the club fighting on all three fronts domestically as well as with a forthcoming Europa League Cup tie to look forward to against Inter Milan.

Yet, for all that league success is expected to come, Deila will be judged on how Sunday's game pans out.

"It is something extra because it is a derby and you want to win the city," he said. "It is a bigger match than a normal semi-final.

"Quite frankly, I haven't been to the shops. I haven't met anyone.

"I have been in Lennoxtown the whole week. But I know where I can go and where I should go.

"I know the expectations and want to save my energy for Sunday. You have to choose yourself where you go and what you do?" It's what I said to them the first day I met them.

"We talk about it all the time. Use your energy for something you can do something about."

If Deila was surprised that the police felt it necessary to knock on the doors of Lennoxtown this week, he did a good job of hiding it.

However, it is fair to say that the very fact the step was taken should give him an indication of the tumultuous nature of the game which lies ahead.

"I understand that," he insisted. "It would happen also if there was a derby in Sweden or Norway.

"I have been in Stockholm where there has been a lot of trouble. In Norway also, in Oslo.

"The big cities have big derbies, but this is bigger than those derbies of course.

"That's why I understand well that it's important for the police to get the information out before it happens."