Michael Beale has responded to Mark Hateley's "tsunami of pressure" claims insisting it is what he signed up for.

The Rangers manager is under increased pressure to win the Scottish Cup this term with Celtic nine points clear and already having the League Cup trophy in the cabinet.

Now Rangers face Celtic in a huge Scottish Cup semi-final next month and former Ibrox striker Hateley insisted it was a huge game for Beale's immediate future.

He claimed that if Rangers do not beat Celtic in the cup then Beale will be hit with a "tsunami of pressure".

Responding to the comment, Beale said: “Yeah, the pressure on me is to win every single game. It’s what I signed up for.

“When you are having a rough day, you remember you knew all about this when you signed up for it.

“The semi-final is a game we are looking forward to because we under-performed in the last one and should have won the one before that.

“The games have not been a big gap in terms of quality and scoreline, which there probably was earlier in the season. We have shown we can consistently win against most teams in the league, and go on a strong run.

“It is important with three big derby matches coming up in the last games of the season that we try to win more than we lose. We are all focused on that.

“Before that there is a lot of football to be played.

“I haven’t got a magic ball that tells me who is going to be fit and available.

“I will deal with that game when it comes around.

“But I agree with Mark. It is fine, it is par for the course. It is what you guys would say as well. There is no issue.

“It will be my third game in that fixture.

“We should have won the first one, we didn’t. We lost the second one and were second best in that game and it was a final. Now we have the third, fourth and fifth editions coming very quickly.

“The first was my first loss in nine in an Old Firm and it didn’t taste too good, to be honest.”