Paul Hartley could have been preparing for a Uefa Cup final right now, if he had taken up Walter Smith’s offer. The Scotland midfield player chose to join Celtic, not Rangers, when he left Heart of Midlothian 16 months ago to fulfil his own childhood ambitions of playing for the club he supports. Who better to reveal the mood inside the champions’ camp, now that Rangers have upped the ante in this eternal duel?

It was Smith who gave Hartley his Scotland debut while in charge of the national side and he wanted him to replicate that energetic role at Ibrox when Hearts announced he could go to the highest bidder. Hartley, though, chose Celtic Park and his influential performances in helping Gordon Strachan’s side to win two Old Firm derbies in 11 days have underlined why the manager paid £1.5 million for him in January 2007.

Hartley could not be tempted into offering any opinion on Rangers’ triumph in Florence, but the 30-year-old is aware that Celtic’s hunger for holding on to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League crown has now been heightened by their fiercest rivals reaching a European final.

In contrast to Rangers, Celtic’s schedule is uncluttered and their targets are positively minimalist. They have just three games left in the league, the only prize left to them, while Rangers have six, plus the Uefa and Scottish Cup finals. Victory against Motherwell at Fir Park today would stretch the gap to eight points, putting pressure on Smith’s side, who now have to embark on a hectic game of domestic catchup, starting at Easter Road tomorrow.

Is there now a fear of failure at Celtic because of Rangers reaching the Uefa Cup final? “At a club like Celtic, going a season without winning a trophy would be a big failure,” Hartley said. “We are so determined to win the championship and all we can do is play with the same desire we did against Rangers. We know we have to win the three games and hope that someone else does us a favour. The two Old Firm games were must-wins and we managed it.

“We could look back at some silly dropped points over the season but you have to look forward in this business and the next game is Motherwell and we will go into that with confidence. The only thing we can do is win games and put pressure on Rangers before they face Hibernian on Sunday.

“In the last two games we have beaten Rangers and put pressure on them. It’s made the title race very exciting. We are now at the stage where we have to win every game to try to retain the title. It might be out of Rangers’ hands because of the number of games they have to play.”

Asked whether he thought Rangers could crack under the strain, Hartley proved adept at diplomacy. “The only thing we can do is is win every game and hope that they slip up. Rangers will obviously be confident after getting to the Uefa Cup final but we must simply look after ourselves. Motherwell will be a tough match. It’s a must-win game just like the Old Firm ones.”

There is no chance of Hartley, or anyone in Strachan’s squad, being envious of Rangers? “I am a Celtic player and at the start of the season we set out to try to retain our title,” he said. “Anything else doesn’t interest us.”

It was Hartley’s equally blunt approach on the pitch in the back-to-back victories over Rangers – where he teamed up with Barry Robson in a recast midfield of considerable strength - that set the tone for the task or prising six valuable points off their rivals.

“The first thing you have to so in an Old Firm game is win the battle,” Hartley said. “That is all about winning your first tackle or header. That defines how the match will go. We managed to win certain battles against Rangers, in every area of the pitch. The other games are just as important, though. The Aberdeen match was scrappy but we won and I think every game between now and the end of the season will be like that.

“Midfield is probably the area of the squad that is strongest, with Scott Brown, Massimo Donati and Evander Sno vying for the central spots. Scott’s suspension gave Barry and myself the chance to play in the last three games and we did well and I hope that gives the manager a selection problem.

“I always knew that Barry was a good player from playing against him but now that I have trained with him, it is easy to see how he was gelled with the team. We are of a similar age and are both determined to be in the side. We have come to Celtic at 29 to 30-years-old and we want to do well and achieve as much as possible. It takes time for players to settle in at Celtic. Barry and I were used to being in the first team at Hearts and Dundee United but you know at this club you are always going to have to wait.” The vagaries of the fixture list mean that Celtic are facing Motherwell for the third time in four weeks. The defeat suffered against Mark Mc-Ghee’s side at Celtic Park on April 5 seemed to have ended their title hopes but Hartley insists that feeling never spread to the dressing-room.

“No, we didn’t think that,” he said. “Other people did. We were written off after that but the win at Fir Park kick-started things again. Neil Lennon has done a great job since coming back to the club as first-team coach last month. He has a lot of experience and he has put that across. The players look up to him and he was delighted with the wins against Rangers.”