Rangers undaunted by Celtic Park trip and will stick to gameplan despite no backing

John Lundstram says Rangers will travel to Celtic Park this weekend knowing that they must “stand up and be counted” as they try to breathe life into the title race.

John Lundstram and Rangers head to Celtic Park on Saturday.

Both Glasgow clubs are in excellent form ahead of the latest Old Firm derby, with Rangers winning 2-0 on Saturday against Dundee United before Celtic repeated the scoreline against Ross County 24 hours later. It means Celtic lead their rivals by nine points with eight games remaining, boasting two victories and a draw against Michael Beale’s men so far this season.

Rangers’ fortunes have improved since Beale took over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst as manager at the end of last year and asked whether Rangers will need to show bravery and stamp their authority on proceedings at Parkhead, midfielder Lundstram said: “Definitely. Of course we’ve gone there every time with that mindset and wanted to stand up and be counted. Sometimes games work out differently and sometimes it doesn’t really go the way you want it to. But hopefully we go there this week with a good game plan and manage to implement it on the day.

“If we go there and win of course things change. We need to go there and try to recoup some points. We’re going there to win and of course we need to. We’re going try to implement a game plan, of course we are. Let’s just see.

There will be no away fans permitted at Celtic Park but that won’t faze the Rangers players. “Of course it helps to have the fans there but I wouldn’t say it’s daunting to us,” added Lundstram. “Of course having the fans there for us would be great. It’s not to be, though.”