IF the last week has proven anything, it is that there is one defining characteristic that separates this Celtic squad from the one currently in place at Rangers.

Yes, there is no doubt that man-for-man, Celtic possess the better players and have quality in greater numbers, but it is their mental strength that truly sets them apart from the Ibrox side.

Last weekend, Rangers lost at Hearts to go out of the Scottish Cup in a dismal display. The next day, all of the ingredients were there for Celtic to potentially follow them out of the tournament.

A terrible pitch, awful weather, a St Johnstone side who have started to pick up some real form, and a goalless game going into the latter stages. But Celtic found a way to win.

They have now clocked up a remarkable 34 consecutive wins in domestic cup competitions, and you don't do that without being made of the right stuff between the ears.

It is an incredible achievement, because all it takes is a bad refereeing call or an off-day and you could very easily slip to a defeat and be out of the tournament. But Celtic just refuse to be beaten in these cup games.

During the week, it was a similar story. Rangers probably earmarked Celtic’s trip to Livingston as one of the few remaining potential banana skins for them, and so it proved as they did indeed spill points. But they managed to eek out a draw at the death to increase their lead over their rivals at the top of the league, with Rangers unexpectedly losing to Hamilton at home at the same time.

For me, that was the perfect illustration of the difference in mentality between the two sets of players. While Celtic have a grit and determination to not be defeated, Rangers are crumbling like a deck of cards.

Celtic have that steely mentality that it takes to win Trebles, and Rangers simply don’t. That’s the defining difference that explains why Neil Lennon’s side are now staring at a possible Quadruple Treble, and why Rangers will again finish the season empty-handed.

That ability to handle adversity has been massive for Celtic in recent years. Even when they do suffer a defeat in the league or in Europe, as they did last week, they have shown they are able to quickly put their disappointment to the side and come back out all guns blazing.

Rangers, on the other hand, followed up their disappointment at Tynecastle with an even worse result.

It helps Lennon of course that he has a core of players in his dressing room who have been over course and distance, but I think that the consistency shown by the players has emanated from the manager’s office.

Unlike in his playing days and perhaps in his first spell at the club, he has refused to throw his players under a bus when they have had setbacks, and he hasn’t been getting too carried away when they have been going well.

The players know exactly what is expected of them, and they are playing as though they don’t want to let their manager, their teammates, the fans or the club down.

There is of course the small matter of an Old Firm fixture next weekend, but Lennon will be guarding against complacency when St Mirren come to Celtic Park this afternoon.

The last thing he will want to do is offer Rangers any encouragement whatsoever ahead of what a tricky-looking tie for them on Sunday against Ross County in Dingwall. The very least he will want to go into that game against Rangers at Ibrox with is the maintenance of the 13-point gap they currently enjoy.

I am sure that the manager, as he has done all season, will not be getting carried away by all the talk of the league being over already. None of that talk is coming from inside the club from either him nor the players, and I think he is doing a very good job of maintaining their focus.

That’s why I expect another three points to be won at Celtic Park today, and then the manager and is players will have a week to prepare for a game in which they could very well bury the issue of the destination of the title once and for all.

AND ANOTHER THING…

It was great to see a young Scot in Billy Gilmour running the show for Chelsea against Liverpool during the week.

I may be a Celtic man, but I firmly believe in giving credit where it is due, and Craig Mulholland at Rangers deserves an enormous amount of that for the contribution he and his club have made to the development of such an exciting talent.

I remember speaking to Mulholland about his young players a while back, and he singled Gilmour out as one that was going places. Unfortunately for Rangers, the place he went to next was England, but it is nigh-on impossible for Scottish clubs to hold onto these young talents when the big EPL clubs come calling.

From a Scotland point of view, I think that Steve Clarke will have him in the national team squad for the Euro 2020 play-off against Israel.

He is 18, and in my book, if you are good enough then you are old enough. Other countries throw their best young talent in early, so why not us?

He is a special player and offers something different to the midfielders we already have in there.

I am not saying he will automatically get in the team ahead of those players, because we have some seasoned internationals in that area, but he should be in the squad at the very least. And I think he will be.