Frank McAvennie has called upon the current Celtic squad to bare their teeth as the club prepare to go head-to-head with Rangers at Hampden next month.

The forthcoming William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final will be pivotal to Celtic’s season and the pressure is all on the Parkhead side going into the tie.

Former Gers keeper Andy Goram claimed this week that the Parkhead side are running scared as they prepare to face up to the challenge from Ibrox.

Certainly, given the glee with which many Celtic supporters reacted to Rangers’ administration and subsequent reformation, defeat to the Ibrox side while they still remain in the Championship would be unthinkable.

It has been a stuttering season for Ronny Deila’s men who are currently under pressure from Aberdeen for the league title, but McAvennie has no qualms that they will stand up to Mark Warburton’s side.

“Everyone knows the song. ‘will the real slim shady please stand up’ and what I would say going into this game is that it is a message to Celtic – will the real Celtic please stand up.

“If they do that – if to a man they show their bottle and go into the game with the right attitude - then they should comfortably come through the game. They are the better side.

“If you go through both squads and look at the players then Celtic should have no fear. We have seen them play well in games in patches this season but what I would like is to see what they have got when they really got all out for it.

“Send out a team fired up, with two strikers, with a really attacking formation and I think that Celtic could win - and win well. But they need to have the right approach. They need to go into it believing that they are the best team on the park.

“That is when you need the likes of Scott Brown to get them all going. He is a great character, a great leader but he hasn’t quite been himself since he came back from injury. He has a few weeks now to get up to speed and these are the guys that if they are on their game, I think will be too much for Rangers.”

The bulk of this season has been peppered with speculation about the long-term sustainability of Deila in the managerial role.

It has intensified this week with various former players throwing their hat into the ring for the job.

McAvennie, however, has maintained that he has no axe to grind with Deila – but wishes to see a Hoops team that has him on the edge of his seat.

“A few people have maybe crossed the line with some comments that I think have been of a personal nature, but for me it is really all about how frustrating it is to watch them,” said McAvennie.

“I want to be entertained when I watch football. I want the team to play a certain way. I am a Celtic fan, I always have been, and I know what is good football.

“I have nothing against Ronny as a guy. I don’t know him well, he comes across like a genuine guy and he is passionate about what he is doing. But the players that are at the club just now aren’t playing at a level that gets you going.

“Can they do better? I think they can. I think they have more to give but there are so many players who play a very similar game.”

Kris Commons was back in the Celtic line-up for last weekend’s encounter over Partick Thistle and it is he whom McAvennie would like to see given a prominent role at Hampden.

“He is the best player at the club, simple as that,” said McAvennie. “Commons and Leigh Griffiths are the guys in there who can get you something from nothing.

“He is also a big-occasion player. Commons has shown time and time again that he steps up to the plate when it comes to the games where it matters.

“The games against Rangers, when the pressure is on and there is so much riding on the outcome are where he has come to the fore so often in the past. Over the next few weeks we ned to see him given the game time he needs so that he is sharp and ready for Hampden.

“Ronny wasn’t keen on Kris when he first came in and curiously he wasn’t too convinced by Griffiths either. But these are the guys who could really shape how the season ends and they are the players who have shown that they can be relied upon.”

*Frank McAvennie was speaking at the launch of the new Paddy Power store in Coatbridge