Celtic’s big lead over Rangers dismissed as irrelevant by Ange Postecoglou ahead of Old Firm derby

The fierce rivals meet on New Year’s Day with the Ibrox side desperate to claim victory to reignite a title challenge

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Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has dismissed their nine-point lead over Rangers as irrelevant to Monday’s New Year derby.

The Scottish Premiership champions ensured they would travel to Ibrox with a healthy lead when they beat Hibernian 4-0 at Easter Road on Wednesday.

Celtic also have a 20-goal advantage over their city rivals and a draw would be a much better result for the visitors than Rangers, but Postecoglou is viewing the game as another chance to put on a show and delight their fans.

Postecoglou said: “We have been a fair way in front for a while now and if we were thinking about it like that you probably would have seen complacency creep in. But it’s just not relevant to where we are right now and the mindset of this team.

“Every game is an opportunity for us to go out and play our football and win and give some joy to our supporters.

“Whether you are nine points ahead, nine points behind, what does it matter? The next game is a massive game, it’s a showcase game.

“It’s a big game for our supporters, it’s a big game for our football club, it’s a big game for the league. It’s a showcase game. We want to be part of that. We are going to Ibrox, it’s a tough place to go.

“So who cares what the points tally is? It’s a big game to look forward to and that’s what we will do.

“We will try and put on another strong performance and give our fans some joy.”

Postecoglou expects Greg Taylor to be fit after the left-back went off with a tight muscle with Celtic four ahead in Leith.

Sead Haksabanovic missed out with a foot knock while Jota was only given a late run-out after missing training on Tuesday with a stomach bug.

PA