THERE is very little Neil Lennon can do, he concedes, to prepare those among his squad who have yet to experience an Old Firm fixture for what lies ahead at Ibrox this afternoon.

The likes of Boli Bolingoli and Christopher Jullien are likely to face Rangers for the first time in a Celtic jersey today, and Lennon will be telling his new men what his old Celtic manager Martin O’Neill told him before his own Old Firm debut.

“I remember Martin telling me it was a blur,” Lennon said.

“My first one was the League Cup semi-final at Hampden and the first 45 minutes were a blur.

“The good thing about it was we played the corresponding league game three days later, so you were better prepared for it.

“You have to try and take it all in very quickly and then try and concentrate on the game. You can pass on your experiences but each individual player will experience it in their own way.

“[Some players have been overwhelmed] and that is understandable because it is a cacophony of noise. It is high octane and it is competitive and I want us to be competitive on Sunday.

“We have got good players and guys with a lot of experience of the fixture who can help the others who are making the debuts in it.”

Martin O’Neill famously walked Lennon over to the huge Celtic support in the Broomloan Road Stand after one particularly fiery derby at Ibrox, but there will be far fewer of their number in attendance today with the reduced allowance of around 800 tickets still in place from last season.

Lennon hopes that the two clubs can come to an agreement to revert back to the traditional larger away supports at both Celtic Park and Ibrox as he feels the new arrangement detracts from the fixture, but he has challenged his players to put the lack of support for them today out of their minds.

“It is a great fixture but I think a bit of the shine has been taken off it with so little away fans present – for both teams,” he said. “I think has taken a bit of the atmosphere away, at Celtic Park and at Ibrox.

“Some of these guys won’t have experienced the double stand behind the goal either.

“Maybe it affects them, I don’t know. We will only have 6-800 fans there which is a shame, but it is the same at Celtic Park now and I think the powers that be should look at it and let more away fans in.

“We can go over to a very small section. It is difficult to hear them because they are outnumbered by a lot, but we have to forget about that now. Accept it and get on with the game and play as strongly as we can.

“Fans don’t win games, players do, and we have to match up and be far more competitive than we were the last time that we were there.”

One thing that is certain today is that Celtic won’t be going to Ibrox to park the bus. It’s simply not in the make-up of Lennon’s team to look to frustrate the opposition.

Instead, he is banking on the firepower that saw his team smash four past AIK in Stockholm on Thursday night to outgun the Rangers attack and deliver a massive win.

“It would be folly to try to change things in two days,” he said. “We have players who want to hurt teams. Our front four in Stockholm were spectacular at times and defensively we were looking a bit better, although it's a work in progress.

“We've brought in a goalkeeper who may figure, and that will hopefully bolster us as well.

“And Leigh Griffiths is ready to play if needed. He was on the bench in midweek and he asked to play an hour on Monday which was pleasing, because he wanted to do it.

“And again with the goals we’re scoring, it might have to be a show of patience from him, But he’s a great sub to have, and he revels in the occasion.

“The last eight years have been great for Celtic and we want to continue in the same vein.

“I understand why neutrals would want to see a changing of the guard, so to speak, but our incentive is to go for nine and try to improve every aspect we can in the football department.”