Barrie McKay says Ibrox factor is key for Rangers in derby

The gap at the top of the Premiership may already be insurmountable for Rangers but Barrie McKay insists they can at least turn the tables on Celtic for 90 minutes tomorrow.

Rangers winger Barrie McKay says the Ibrox team can make home advantage count against Celtic. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

The winger believes he and his team-mates have let themselves down in the two previous Old Firm meetings this season, having lost 5-1 at Celtic Park in the opening league game between the sides and then 1-0 in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden.

McKay is optimistic home advantage at Ibrox can count for Rangers as they attempt to end 2016 on a more positive note against their city rivals.

“We’ve definitely not done ourselves justice in the two games against Celtic so far,” said the Scotland international who celebrates his 22nd birthday today.

“We’ve not shown what we can do and how we can play. It’s up to us on Saturday to show what we’re all about. When we’ve played them, we’ve let them dictate play. It’s up to us to dominate the football and keep it moving.

“We have to move them from side to side and do what they’ve done to us when we’ve played. It’ll be different at Ibrox. When you have the home crowd behind you it gives you an extra edge. I think our home form has been really good. It’ll be hard for them if they think they can just come and turn us over.”

Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw against St Johnstone in Perth saw Rangers fall 16 points adrift of Celtic, who have played one game fewer, at the halfway stage of the campaign. McKay says the gap will not deflect his team from continuing to strive for greater consistency of results and performances.

“We go into every game looking to win,” he added. “It’s up to every other team to do the same. We’ll keep pushing until the end. I wouldn’t say we’re an improved team since the last Old Firm game. We’ve maybe just got the confidence back.

“We’re learning how to see out games rather than scoring and then losing a late goal. We’ve started to properly gel as a team with all the new players who have added that extra bit of quality.

“I don’t think the result against St Johnstone will have any bearing on our confidence levels for the Celtic game. We didn’t pick up all three points so we just need to do that on Saturday. We can only play the best we can.”