Old Firm derby preview

By: j | February 13th, 2009

Sunday is the setting for another Old Firm derby with the Rangers now only two points behind Celtic. Unbeaten over the last four matches, Walter Smith’s side have closed the gap that once looked insurmountable and with a victory can find themselves atop the SPL table. Since their last meeting, in which Celtic came out on top 1-0, the league leaders have stumbled losing to Aberdeen, while drawing against Dundee United and Caley Thistle.

On the injury front, the Gers are at near full strength with only Nacho Novo and long-term absence Kevin Thomson missing out. Celtic manager Gordon Strachan’s only question is Shaun Maloney who is dealing with a problematic hamstring injury.

Recent performances of teen phenom John Fleck and Kyle Lafferty are making good cases that they should be in the starting eleven. Manager Walter Smith spoke of the two, saying:

“I think in Scotland, you need to handle the media pressure that the likes of John have been getting.

“The spotlight falls upon certain players and that is just part and parcel of what you get here.

“So far, everybody and their grandmother has been commenting on John but he’s still just a young player trying to find his way.

“He has started very well and hopefully that will continue. I feel he is now ready to play and I don’t think he’ll be fazed if he is selected.

Of the twenty-one year old Northern Ireland international Kyle Lafferty he added:

“Kyle is another young player who, when we brought him in, we appreciated there would be high expectation levels of him.

“He is only 20 and like a lot of players who go to Rangers and Celtic, he has settled down and is now better placed to be used as a striker or on the left of midfield.”

Recalling the 4-2 victory in Celtic Park in August, the manager noted:

“It would be a huge result for us if we won. We have managed to win at Celtic Park already this season and they have beaten us at Ibrox.

“It would be nice to back to their place and win again but we will have to turn in a similar performance to the one we gave there in August.

“In fact, we might have to play even better than we did that day and as the season goes on, our head-to-head meetings are becoming more important.

“I don’t think a draw would be a bad result for either team this weekend. It would leave us as we are at the present moment.

“With one win each so far and some points lost to other teams, there isn’t a lot between the sides.”

As always enjoy the match and I will report on it once it concludes.