Dado Prso arrived at Ibrox bearing more than a passing resemblance to Rab C Nesbitt. Unlike Govan's patron saint of broken ambitions, however, he left having realised his dreams. Quite literally.

In the build-up to last night's CIS Insurance Cup quarter-final, the Croat had informed a newspaper back home of a premonition in which Rangers had defeated Celtic, throwing in the fact that he felt destined to score for good measure.

When his legs finally seize up, perhaps Prso could find gainful employment as a fairground fortune-teller. At least there would be no need to alter his hairstyle.

The moment when, with six minutes of normal time remaining, David Marshall parried Hamed Namouchi's shot in his direction is likely to pop up in Prso's dreams during forthcoming nights. He could hardly miss from just outside the six-yard box and steered a low shot into the net to ensure there would be extra time. It may have been Shota Arveladze who finally gave Rangers Old Firm victory after seven successive failures, but it was undoubtedly Prso who turned the tide.

One thing the former Monaco player had failed to predict was that he would be left on the bench at the start of last night's tension-soaked proceedings to allow Steven Thompson to continue in attack. After requiring a number of stitches in a head wound sustained against Aberdeen 10 days ago, the striker sat pensively on the sidelines with his cranium bandaged up.

Thompson's evening, however, lasted just beyond the first quarter of the game when, having jarred his right ankle in the first couple of minutes, he had to concede defeat and make way for Prso.

While Thompson had battled gamely on the edges of the game, his replacement threw himself straight into the heavyweight mixer that was Celtic's penalty area. Prso wasn't afraid to go toe-to-toe against any either of their centre-backs and Stanislav Varga was booked in the closing stages of the first half for bundling him to the ground.

Bobo Balde assumed batteringr-ram duties after the break and was perhaps fortunate to escape any punishment for one all-consuming thump on the left touchline.

Given the manly nature of those duels, it was thoroughly disappointing that Prso should have blotted his performance with an obvious dive after 63 minutes. The striker quickly bounded back to his feet, spurred, one would hope, by embarrassment, but was still deserving of the yellow card shown to him by Stuart Dougal, the referee. After that goal, however, Rangers and their supporters would forgive him any number of sins.

It became a tale of two strikers at Ibrox, with John Hartson in the role of vanquished hero. Surely the Welshman's agent can expect his mobile phone to ring in the near future, with Martin O'Neill finally requesting the meeting that will resolve his future at Celtic.

Hartson has never hidden his desire to extend his time and, if there were any lingering doubts over his value to the club, they were removed from the equation at Ibrox last night.

Rangers had monopolised possession for the first 66 minutes of the match and the toiling fitness of a number of Celtic players was further diminished as they scuttled around to close down space. A brief flurry of attacking forced a rare corner and, when Alan Thompson delivered, Hartson seemed to hang suspended at the back post before thumping home a header.

He arrived as the leading scorer in the Premierleague with 10 goals but has never celebrated any with such delight as he leapt the advertising boards and came perilously close to a booking.

It was the kind of brutal, straightforward impact Rangers had been unable to make to that point, despite the numerous passes they linked across the Ibrox turf.

Hartson's fitness no longer seems in question, so quite why he has not been tied to a new contract is something that continues to puzzle observers. Celtic could do nothing to prevent Henrik Larsson from leaving at the end of last season as the Swede was determined to venture into sunnier, and more glamorous, climes after his record-shattering seven-year stay in Glasgow. That is not the case with Hartson, who has proved capable of filling his talismanic role in attack.

The most irritating aspect of the match for Rangers was the refusal of Peter Lovenkrands to accept enough responsibility on his left-wing beat. The Dane continually drifted infield to narrow the play at precisely the time his team-mates wanted to broaden the play and it was little surprise when he was replaced by Arveladze after 79 minutes. Lovenkrands was once the man to whom Rangers looked for inspiration in these fixtures. Perhaps now it will be Prso, the psychic striker.