It ended in acrimony, but Stephen McManus has claimed that the rammy after the last Old Firm game has been long since forgotten about.

The Celtic captain was involved in an altercation with his Rangers counterpart, Barry Ferguson, after Celtic's 2-1 victory, while David Weir and Gary Caldwell were both sent off after the final whistle.

Relations between the two clubs have become even more strained by a fixture row, but McManus claims that it will all be forgotten about come lunchtime tomorrow.

"That was done and dusted as soon as we got off the pitch," said McManus.

"As usual it was blown out of proportion; no doubt the Rangers lads feel exactly the same way about it as we do. As soon as you come off the pitch, it's forgotten about."

Celtic's situation is simple. They must win their remaining four home games, starting tomorrow, and hope that Rangers drop points.

"It's a home game for us and we are looking to win it," added McManus. "We have four games to go and are looking to win all of them.

We certainly believe we can win the title.

"I think in Old Firm games, first and foremost, you need to win your individual battles. If you have seven or eight or nine players coming out on top in their individual battles, then you are going to win."

It has been an eventful season for McManus in his first campaign as captain, not least in Old Firm games. The defender suffered concussion in a clash with Daniel Cousin in the first derby game of the season in October, a 3-0 win for Walter Smith's side.

The second match last month ended 1-0 to Rangers, although Celtic played reasonably. Then came last week's epic encounter, in which Celtic stole all three points with a goal in injury time.

McManus claims that he has been on a sharp learning curve as captain. "I've certainly had to take a lot more on board and you need to be thick-skinned. You also have more responsibilities on and off the pitch.

"There's lots of people who want to tell you how to do your job off the pitch. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. The icing on the cake would be to get my hands on the league trophy as captain, but all you can do is work hard and drive people on to try and achieve it."

Celtic were praised for winning the physical battle in the last Old Firm game, but McManus claimed that fact overlooked the level of their performance. "People said that physically we did this or that, but we played well."

McManus was playing alongside Bobo Balde in last weekend's 1-0 victory over Aberdeen, but tomorrow could see the return of Gary Caldwell to central defence.

Celtic have also found a settled partnership in central midfield, with Barry Robson and Paul Hartley adding strength and dynamism. "Robbo and Zico Hartley have done great. Maybe this season we've not had two players who you could say were our settled pairing.

It's up to the manager who he picks, but I think those two have been really, really good together.

"They're good, international players and have played in a lot of big games now. We have a bit of variety in our play. Robbo can interchange with Naka Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady as well, so we seem to be a wee bit more free-flowing. That happens during the course of a season. You're going to have sticky spells and other times when you are doing really well and winning games."