It would appear we have their attention.

The latest news from Ibrox is they are trying desperately to make sure three of their players who are eligible to play in the African Nations Cup DON’T leave for their countries on the 27th December and stay in Glasgow until after the Glasgow Derby.

According to RecordSport, the Ibrox club are frantically negotiating to keep Calvin Bassey, Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun in town for the Celtic Park showdown.

The confidence shown by many across the city just a month ago appears to have evaporated and with Celtic breathing down their neck, they are incredibly weary of the derby day. Celtic are slowly getting up to speed with a very new look side – of course there’s going to be bumps along the way but we feel in a much better place than last term already.

Celtic have not turned up in the fixture for nearly two years, granted a lot of these derbies have been glorified training sessions behind closed doors. The Hoops must keep in touch at the top until the Derby and see how things unfold from there.

There’s a lot of football still to be played but Celtic have to believe they can give anyone in this league a run for their money.

The game at Celtic Park will be a sell out with likely no involvement from Ibrox fans. Celtic were informed last minute before the previous derby they wouldn’t be receiving any briefs for the game. Celtic can only reciprocate.