Celtic captain Callum McGregor says the Hoops will adopt a ‘siege mentality’ when they travel to Ibrox to play Rangers later today.
It is the Bhoys’ first jaunt across the city of the 2024/25 season, and they know that with no away fans, more or less everything will be against them.
Brendan Rodgers’ men can take heart from their recent derby record, however, and from the fact that current Rangers boss Philippe Clement has failed to beat them in six attempts.
In contrast, Rodgers has lost to the Gers just once in 20 matches. He is a Glasgow derby expert and will not plan to dent his prodigious record today.
Neither will McGregor, who also rarely loses to Rangers. He relishes going to Ibrox and gave an insight into the mindset of the Celtic dressing room ahead of the match: “When we arrive in the stadium, we understand everyone’s against us,” he said (Glasgow Times).
“It kind of helps the group a little bit where you have that siege mentality.
“It’s whatever you’ve got inside that dressing room, the 40 to 50 bodies that are working on the day. It’s us against them and you have to go and stand up and be counted and be there for each other.
“When you don’t have any supporters in the stadium then you feel even more responsibility to try and get a result for the guys that are watching either on the tellies or wherever they are. So, sometimes you take a wee bit more pleasure in that as well.”
A Celtic victory this afternoon would not only see Rangers plunged into even more of a crisis but also put the champions a colossal 17 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Derbies are characteristically chaotic, particularly in Glasgow. If the Bhoys can get the ball down and let their quality shine through, though, there’s nothing to say they can’t pick up all three points.
