CRAIG Gordon last night insisted Rangers have no chance of breaking their derby hoodoo if Celtic play their normal game this afternoon.
The goalkeeper has full confidence that, should his team-mates find their best level, then their winning run against their city rivals will extend to seven wins and one draw from the last eight matches.
Celtic, who have Scott Sinclair available, face a Rangers side with several key players missing and which sits 11 points adrift of the champions. Gordon said: “You just want to win the game. It doesn’t really matter to us what anyone else is doing. We’ll go into the game and try to impose ourselves on it.
“We know it will be a battle. They will come out and try to make a few tackles because it’s a derby game and they have to.
“We have to be ready for that and stand up to that. But at the same time we have to stay calm and play the type of football we know. And, if we do play how we can, then we will win the match.
“It’s all about winning this game. It means more, whether it’s home or away. It’s the big game of the season and you want to win it. It’s like any derby match, you want to beat your rivals whether it’s Glasgow, Edinburgh, anywhere across the world.
“The derby matches always mean something and this derby is extra special for all the history that goes with it.”
Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, has yet to lose to Rangers and his side are heavy favourites to win once again, as they did 2-0 at Ibrox earlier in the season.
And when asked whether such a run could have a psychological effect on the Rangers players. Rodgers said: “Well, it can do. If you’ve played a team seven times, lost six and got away with a draw in the other one then you can probably never admit it but there’s no doubt that, subconsciously, there will be an eerie feeling. It’s difficult but every game gives you an opportunity.
“We never feel, just because we’ve played well and won most of our games against them, that we can take anything for granted. We have to be really hungry every time we play and that’s what we’ll be aiming for."
He added: “Celtic have played well in the majority of our meetings with them – even in the 1-1 draw at Parkhead last season, we should have won it, even though we didn’t play so well.
“You have to give credit to the mentality of our players, though, because they’ve played with no fear in these matches – whether it’s been at home or away or at Hampden – and I think that’s important. Because of that lack of fear, we’ve been able to go out and play very well.”
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