JIM Duffy got up close and personal with both Celtic and Rangers in the space of a week earlier this month. Now the Morton manager is fascinated to see whether Ronny Deila and Mark Warburton will blink first and alter their attacking principles in a bid to prevent next month's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final from becoming the most open Old Firm match in years. Duffy, speaking at a local Greenock school to encourage local children to drink more water, feels the Parkhead side are firm favourites for the tie but knows that on their day this Rangers side are more than capable of making it a contest. While his own side has had success on the counter attack this season, the two matches in question finished 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.

"They both play very open, that is the first thing, so I am really interested to see whether any of them adapt when the two teams come up against each other," said Duffy. "If they do play the same style they play most weeks it could be one of the most open Old Firm games in a long time."

While Celtic generally play two deeper midfield players and Rangers just one, both sides keep two wide men high up the pitch and allow full backs such as Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney, or James Tavernier and Lee Wallace to attack the space.

"It will be interesting to see if any of them tweak their shape," said the Morton manager. "They both push their full backs right on, leaving a lot of space in the middle, which they are both good at playing through, so I am looking forward to see who blinks first really.

"Rangers' game is dominating the ball, even the other night there against Falkirk where they lost, in the second half they still dominated the ball, similar to the way Celtic do in the Premier League," he added. "The one thing you have to say is that Celtic are doing that against a higher calibre of opposition week in, week out.

"This a very, very good championship, as good a championship as you can imagine really, but it is still the championship," he added. "You have to understand that but Rangers have been on the front foot in every game, and will they be on the front foot for so long? I would suggest no, so it is how they deal with that side of it.

"Although there are some good players in this division, you don't come up against players with the quality of Leigh Griffiths. If Rangers do push the full backs on, Griffiths will thrive in that space. Mark Warburton has stated quite publicly that he won't change his philosophy so that will be a test of that statement."

While Duffy also insists Kenny Miller's movement can cause the Celtic backline problems, the good news, for most anyway, is that he can see a football match breaking out, as opposed to the usual battle for scraps.

"Scott Brown as everyone knows is a competitor and Andy Halliday is a competitor but by and large if you look at the two teams there are not too many that you would have to look out the big shinpads for," he said. "I think the game will be a bit calmer than usual."

Morton are increasingly active in the Inverclyde community and the Morton manager said the H2O scheme, in conjunction with Scottish Water and the SPFL trust, was something to get behind. "Obviously in the last budget there, there was the Sugar Tax, because the amount of sugary drinks that kids drink. We have all grown up like that, and we enjoy it, but we tend to forget that you need to hydrate properly and sensibly. Like anything in life, the earlier you get that education the better. Sometimes the kids can educate the parents."

**Jim Duffy was speaking at St Mary’s Primary School in Greenock to promote an education programme between Morton, Scottish Water and the SPFL trust which encourages children to exercise and stay hydrated. Visit www.scottishwater.co.uk/education for more info.