Stephen Welsh said Celtic are confident going into Sunday’s Scottish Cup Glasgow derby and added he and his team-mates are determined to give the fans a win and continue their pursuit of silverware.

Celtic resume their Scottish Cup campaign this Sunday (April 18) when they travel to Ibrox for the fourth round tie. It will be the fourth meeting between the two sides this season and Welsh said Celtic are confident of improving on the 1-1 draw in the most recent clash.

The 21-year-old defender signed a new contract earlier this week, and said he was happy to have the deal concluded so he can fully concentrate on one of the biggest games of the season.

“I’m delighted to have the new deal signed but I need to forget about that now and focus on the football pitch,” said Welsh. “I’m obviously really happy to get it done for another few years but the focus is on the pitch. I can fully focus on the football side of things now, none of the contract talk. That’s what I wanted to happen so I could really focus on the football, especially ahead of Sunday.

“It’s always a big game going into these ones, especially going away to Ibrox. It probably puts the pressure up a wee bit with this being the last cup to win this season. We’re looking forward to it and, hopefully, we can go there and put in a good performance and get into the next round.

'In the last game at Celtic Park I thought we were excellent. We were on the front foot, creating chances and should have scored two or three goals in the first half alone. It gives us confidence going into the next game knowing we can perform like that.'

We just need the goals to come and not concede any at the other end which, as a defender, you pride yourself on.”

John Kennedy’s side are fresh off a 6-0 league win over Livingston at Celtic Park and Welsh said the result has served as a confidence boost for the team ahead of Sunday’s game.

“We’re on a good run ourselves,” he said. “Going into these games, it’s not always about form, but we are very confident after the last few games.

“We always feel very strong, especially at this club. We have a really strong team. We have good individuals and are good as a team. You saw that last week against Livingston. It was probably our best performance of the season. We scored goals, created chance and kept a clean sheet which helps a lot so, going into Sunday, we’re full of confidence and will be looking to put things right.”

Stephen Welsh: We want to repay the fans with a Glasgow derby win