Kris Boyd has revealed his big fear for Sunday’s Glasgow Derby- the home support!
There won’t be a single Celtic fan inside Ibrox with the place packed out with expectant bears who have suffered through over a decade of dominance from Celtic.
After two years in second place the tide has turned towards Ibrox and although Brendan Rodgers’ side cross the city in top place in the Premiership table two wins for Philippe Clement’s side against the hoops and Dundee puts them five points ahead with six matches left to play.
That level of expectation is on the shoulders of the home players who have already lost under two different manager to Celtic this season.
There is plenty of pressure on Rodgers but inside Ibrox all eyes will be on the home players to deliver the result that they have been building towards since Micky Beale was sacked in the autumn.
Boyd is the Number 1 media cheerleader but realises that a stadium full of home supporters could be double edged. Writing in The Sun he explains:
Rangers have worked so hard to turn the title race on its head — but now is the crunch. They can’t afford to throw away this opportunity in front of 50,000 home fans at Ibrox.
Clement has always spoken about the importance of the support and they have a key role to play tomorrow.
If Celtic start to frustrate Rangers or score first, the last thing those players need is for the fans to turn. They need to stay with the team from the first whistle to the last — because this is THE defining game of the season for them.
Rangers are the team with the momentum but this will take a huge effort from everyone to get three points.
Celtic have a strong record in this fixture and in Kyogo Furuhashi they have a striker who can terrify Rangers.
OK, they face a big decision on Callum McGregor’s fitness and you don’t want to go into this fixture undercooked, no matter how influential he can be.
But there will be moments when Rodgers’ side are on top and, if Ibrox turns, it could be difficult for Clement’s players.
Fail to win and it just leads to added pressure on the manager and his squad, especially with the final Old Firm clash of this season and the first next term at Parkhead.
You can very quickly go on a bad run of derby defeats — but Rangers have the perfect chance at Ibrox to ensure that doesn’t happen.
Anything less than a home win and Boyd’s voice will be hitting the high notes in the Sky Sports studio for the post match analysis with Chris Sutton.
CLICK HERE for MP Brendan O’Hara shows his colours on Sky News.
