Rangers embark upon the invariably hostile atmosphere of an away game against Celtic in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday lunchtime.
Celtic Park may be an intimidating venue for most clubs but Rangers have only lost one of their last five visits to the green and white half of Glasgow. The Gers had gone eight and a half years without a Parkhead victory prior to this enterprising run.
Here’s the XI Giovanni van Bronckhorst may deploy to get another positive result on enemy soil.
GK: Jon McLaughlin – Allan McGregor’s understudy for the last two seasons started his professional career a decade and a half ago but is a relative whipper-snapper compared to his 40-year-old predecessor.
RB: James Tavernier – Since 2018, Tavernier has either scored or assisted a whopping 87 Scottish Premiership goals from right-back, 12 more than any other player in the division during this time.
CB: James Sands – The US international somehow escaped a red card against Ross County last weekend but is suspension free and available for the trip to Parkhead.
CB: Connor Goldson – Not many Rangers players can boast about scoring a brace against Celtic in their own backyard. Although, Goldson’s achievements in 2020 were dampened by the fact that it was the first Old Firm derby ever without fans.
LB: Borna Barisic – The left back’s father Stipe “The Moth” Barisic was part of the cabal that settled a case in January which involved the burning down of a former Croatian chief state attorney’s cottage (as reported by Jutarnji).
CM: Tom Lawrence – The former Manchester United youth team player has been coached by four different Champions League winners (Ryan Giggs, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Van Bronckhorst).
CM: John Lundstram – Less than a year after suffering relegation with Sheffield United, Lundstram scored the winning goal in the Europa League semi-final last season as he established his place as a regular starter from February onwards.
AM: Malik Tillman – The youth system prodigy only joined Bayern’s academy because his older brother Timothy was persuaded to pick the Bavarians over Barcelona. Malik tagged along and Rangers have proven to be the ultimate beneficiaries.
RW: Scott Wright – The Aberdeen academy product cost just £180,000 when Rangers prised him away from Pittodrie last summer.
ST: Antonio Colak – After scoring the goals for Malmo at Ibrox that knocked Rangers out of Champions League qualifying last year, Colak returned the favour by firing the Gers into the group stage of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since 2011 last month.
LW: Ryan Kent – Since Van Bronckhorst’s arrival in the dugout last November, no player has created more goals for Rangers than Kent (17).
