Steven Gerrard's Old Firm debut as Rangers manager saw more than 500,000 tune into Sky Sports for their visit to Celtic earlier this month.

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The Liverpool legend’s clash with his former manager Brendan Rodgers proved intriguing north and south of the border which helped boost the figures after some poor recent returns in terms of those watching on TV.

Celtic’s 1-0 win, thanks to Olivier Ntcham’s second-half goal, was shown across two Sky Sports channels - Main Event and Football - with 552,000 tuning in according to figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board.

Steven Gerrard's Old Firm debut against Brendan Rodgers saw surge in viewing figures. Picture: SNS/Alan Harvey

It was substantial increases from the 275,000 people who watched the goalless draw between the sides in the final derby of 2017, although that rose to just under 400,00 for Celtic’s 4-0 triumph in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

Such a rise in viewing figures will prove a fillip for the SPFL has they negotiate a new broadcasting deal with the one currently in place with BT Sport and Sky Sports ending at the end of the 2019-2020 season.

Revealed: Old Firm viewing figures surge for Brendan Rodgers v Steven Gerrard