RANGERS may have started this season with a club record run of seven consecutive clean sheets, but Moi Elyounoussi reckons there are gaps to be exploited when Steven Gerrard’s men visit Celtic Park today.
The Norwegian winger is hoping to help spearhead the Celtic attack this afternoon, and show that the champions still have a razor-sharp cutting edge despite the absence of some of their key attacking personnel.
And he has noticed areas in the Rangers defence that he feels both he and his teammates can exploit
“Absolutely, I see gaps,” Elyounoussi said. “Any time you analyse, you can always see strengths and weaknesses.
“From what I’ve seen, there are gaps, there is space to open up and to hurt them. We look at them – but it’s about what we can produce. We look at where we can hurt them.
“We’ve finished a good session [on Friday]. The aim is to produce what we’ve just seen in training.
“Of course, we would love to have everyone available. But we have a strong squad. So I’m sure that, whoever plays, they will perform well.
“It is what it is, you have to expect that – and focus on what we can do now.”
Elyounoussi has even more reason than most to look forward to the Rangers game than most, given that he feels he hasn’t really been able to make his mark on the fixture so far because of injury since his arrival at Celtic last season.
“Yeah, it’s true,” he said. “The League Cup final, I played with a broken toe, so I wasn’t really myself.
“I’m obviously looking forward to the game. I would have loved to have played all those other times.
“Hopefully I put in a good performance. We had good training [on Friday], everyone looks sharp and prepared, ready mentally.
“It was frustrating watching when I couldn’t play. You always want to be part of the team – any game.
“Watching from the stand while injured is always frustrating. So that’s another reason to look forward to it.”
Elyounoussi, like everyone else associated with Celtic, laments the fact that no supporters will be allowed into the stadium today. The fans, for their part, showed that the team will be in their thoughts by unveiling a banner at their Lennoxtown training ground yesterday.
The winger says that the players were touched by the gesture, but that they would be giving everything for their supporters in any case.
“They don’t need to do that,” he said. “We know they’re behind us. And they should know that we’re going to do everything in our power [to win].
“But, of course, we appreciate it. And we’re going to take that feeling into the game.
“Everyone will prepare individually to give everything for the club, the team – and especially the fans.
‘We appreciated these kind of things. But they should know we’ll give 100 per cent, either way.’
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