Michael Stewart: Rangers will want to prove they are ‘streets ahead’ of Celtic
Michael Stewart suggests Celtic will struggle against Rangers in the Old Firm and identified two players who will be key for the Bears on Sunday.
The BBC pundit has not always been Gers’ biggest fan but he recognises there is a gulf in quality between the two rivals.
And he thinks Rangers will want to prove that on Sunday while putting the disappointing defeat to Slavia Prague firmly in the past.
In his column for The Scottish Sun, he wrote, “The trouble is, they’ll need to find a way past Allan McGregor, which no one is finding easy right now.
“And at the other end, a defence that has struggled has to find a way of keeping out Alfredo Morelos.
“The gap between them, which was so big for so long, has dramatically stretched the other way.
“Rangers are streets ahead of Celtic on the park right now.
“This is another chance for them to prove it and get Slavia out of their system at the same time.”
Bouncing back
Thursday’s defeat to Slavia Prague was upsetting for a number of reasons and left a sour taste in the mouth.
There is no better antidote than beating Celtic, however, so we are relishing Sunday’s clash.
We can really lift spirits once again by remaining undefeated, as that will almost ensure an invincible season – that would be some achievement.
Also, Gers have won the last thee Old Firm matches so Celtic will be even more desperate to get one over on us.
Hopefully we can use that advantage and pick them apart with our superior quality.
Allan McGregor was key in the win at Ibrox in January so Stewart is right to pick him out.
We will also need our attacking players to respond from the underwhelming display against Slavia Prague – Kemar Roofe in particular has a point to prove after his red card.
Steven Gerrard should get a response from his squad so we are confident of taking all three points away from Parkhead.
In other Rangers news, Joe Aribo has responded to Glen Kamara’s statement on racism after the Slavia Prague encounter.