Rangers vs Celtic: Philippe Clement and Brendan Rodgers look ahead to Sunday’s Old Firm | Football News
Philippe Clement says he is ready for an “intense” Old Firm clash, while Brendan Rodgers insists Sunday’s match is not a must-win for Celtic.
The two sides meet for the third time this season, live on Sky Sports from 11am – with kick-off at 12pm.
Celtic go into the derby one point ahead of their rivals in the table – but Clement’s side have a game in hand, so either team could take real control of the title race with victory.
Sunday 7th April 11:00am
Kick off 12:00pm
Both managers have been speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the crucial fixture…
Clement: I love the pressure of these games
Philippe Clement is backing his players to impress against Celtic as they look to beat their Old Firm rivals and regain the lead in the Scottish Premiership title race
Gers boss Clement wants his players to do “special things” as he prepares for Sunday’s “intense” top-of-the-table clash.
The Ibrox club have won 10 of their last 11 matches since suffering defeat at Celtic in December – a run of form that has propelled them back into the title race.
Rangers were seven points behind their rivals before the Belgian took charge and he is confident his players can see off Celtic for the first time this season.
“I love it – that is why I am here,” Clement told Sky Sports when asked about the expectancy and pressure ahead of this fixture.
“It is important to keep your cool and I have a lot of trust and belief in my players, and the most important thing for me is the fans now trust this group of players. We have our fans behind us and they know the players can do amazing things – that is a big strength and difference from the past.
“It is a high-tempo game. You cannot make mistakes, we were really close to getting a result even with 10 players at the end of the game [at Celtic Park]. We had chances to get the result, we had two unlucky goals against us and that is decisive.
“These games are decided on details and being really good on the day. You need players who raise their level on the day and do special things. It is going to be a tight game, an intense game and I hope it is a good game for everybody.
“To win trophies is also about consistency and that is an important thing. I see more and more consistency in the group, more players are available to do the things we want to do and take more points, so we need to continue that way.”
Rodgers: We want to win, but don’t need to
Brendan Rodgers tells Sky Sports that Sunday’s clash with Rangers is not a must win in terms of their title push, while he hopes to have Callum McGregor back for the trip to Ibrox
Celtic boss Rodgers – who has lost just one of his 15 meetings against Rangers – believes the league leaders can afford to drop points at Ibrox.
“It’s clearly a game we want to win, but we don’t need to,” he told Sky Sports.
“There are still six other games and we’ll play Rangers again, but there’s no doubt we want to attack the game and, of course, we go in with the mindset to win.
“It’s certainly not done either way whatever happens at the weekend.
“Our focus coming into this game is just playing at the level we want to play at from a football context and that’s always been my approach anytime we’ve played these games, which are fantastic games to be involved in.
Relive all the goals from this season’s Old Firm matches as Rangers and Celtic prepare to go head to head again
“These games are very heated, there are a lot of storylines leading into the games but I’ve always seen them as opportunities to showcase your quality and your talent as a football player. Thankfully, in the main, my teams have been able to do that.
“We went there earlier on in the season and I think it was not only a great lesson in football but also in life because when we arrived in that game individually and collectively we were written off. Rangers were on the up and were ready for us while we had players missing.
“We showed collectively if you stay together and you focus and work hard and play to your level you’ll always be in with a chance to be the victor and that was the case.
“Rangers will want to win the game, they’ve obviously done well this season. For us, we’re there to compete and be competitive.
“You always have to be strong mentally away from home at Ibrox which is what we aim to be.”
Will Yilmaz and McGregor return?
Ridvan Yilmaz picked up an injury while with Turkey
Rangers defender Ridvan Yilmaz and Celtic captain Callum McGregor have both returned to training, but there are still questions about their fitness for the Ibrox showdown.
Yilmaz picked up a thigh injury on international duty with Turkey and while the Gers boss is “not sure” if he will be available – he will not make a final decision over who starts at left-back until Sunday.
Abdallah Sima, who returned to action in the 3-1 win over Hibernian, could start at Ibrox – while the rest of the squad trained ahead of the game – aside from Ryan Jack, Danilo and Oscar Cortes.
“Over the last couple of months that has been case [we have had many injuries] and we need to find solutions,” Clement said.
“Together with the staff and players, we always found solutions. If you look back on this period since the last Old Firm, we had 11 games and took 30 points out of 33.
“We are changing a lot of players and players are playing out of position but the team is doing the job and that is what I expect on Sunday again.”
Celtic captain Callum McGregor trained with his team-mates on Friday
Rodgers is hopeful his captain – who has been out for five weeks with an Achilles problem – will be fit for the trip to Govan: “He’s just got one more day to get through, but he’s made a remarkable recovery.
“He’s obviously not match fit given he’s been out for a while but we’re hoping he’s going to be available to be involved in the game.
“He’s come back maybe three or four weeks ahead of schedule so that shows the work and professionalism he can put into the game and his preparation, so hopefully, all being well, he gets through and we have a clean bill of health for the first time this season.
“We wouldn’t risk him [McGregor] for this game, I think that we have to be sensible and we have to have logic. It’s not like it’s a cup final, there’s obviously going to be more games after this game.”
Clement and Rodgers back referees
John Beaton will take charge of the match at Ibrox
John Beaton will referee the match at Ibrox, just a month after Rodgers was charged by the Scottish FA for branding him ‘incompetent’.
The Celtic boss was banned for their win at Livingston on Sunday after he called out referee Don Robertson and Beaton, who was in the VAR room on that occasion, for controversial decisions in their defeat at Hearts on March 3.
On the appointment, he said: “I said my point about that one game, but John is one of the leading referees and of course if you’re in that position you’re going to get the biggest games.
“I’ve got no worries in terms of refereeing.”
Rangers, meanwhile, were unhappy with the refereeing after their defeat at Celtic Park in December, however, Clement has urged his players to not focus on issues off the field.
“I want my players to only be busy with our football, not with the referees, opponents, crowds or outside noise,” Clement said when asked about criticism of Robertson after December’s Celtic defeat.
“We need to be focused on ourselves. It is a special city in that way – everyone is always looking back to the past, speaking about referees who made a wrong decision against their team in 1993 or 2008, and because of that they are not competent to do the game.
“The referees are good, they work hard and make mistakes like we do also – players make mistakes, managers make mistakes but they want to do the good of the game and are important.”
Watch Rangers vs Celtic live on Sky Sports Football from 11am on Sunday, kick-off at 12pm.
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