I always see anything gained from a game against the Old Firm as an unexpected bonus. We are always underdogs, regardless of whether we're home or away, and the chances of us taking anything are slim. Points picked up from matches against Rangers and Celtic are very welcome. While a win against one of them is worth the same as any other victory, they can often make the difference. The wins against Rangers in 2008 and Celtic in 2010 arguably played a huge part in our survival those seasons.
The win against Rangers was on the occasion of their last every trip to Love Street. Tomorrow is Walter Smith's last trip to Paisley as Rangers boss so it would be nice if a little bit of history repeated itself - although sadly there’s no Stephen McGinn to curl one home from 20 yards this time! It's an understatement to say this will be difficult, but we cannot give our opponents too much respect. We must get in their faces from the first minute and let them know they are in a game. We did very well against them in the first half back in November, but a shocking start to the second half ruined our day.
It wasn't as bad a day as what happened against Rangers almost a year ago when we ventured to Hampden for the League Cup Final. Losing to nine men is something none of us will ever forget, and not for the right reasons. Short of beating them in a cup final, we will never take revenge - but a good result tomorrow would help ease some of the memories of that painful day. Ironically, Rangers had numerous red cards during and after Wednesday's Old Firm game - a match I found highly entertaining and amusing due to the behaviour of both teams.
There have to be changes after last week's disappointing display against Kilmarnock. The most obvious would be to put Kenny McLean in from the start as he was superb following his half-time introduction at Rugby Park. However, don't be surprised to see the uncreative midfield trio of Jim Goodwin, Hugh Murray and Steven Thomson given the nod once again - even though we failed to create anything once again. The other possibility is that one of the three drops out for the unsuspended Paul McGowan - although it's more likely one of Michael Higdon and Craig Dargo will be binned instead.
There could be more changes if we switch to a 4-4-2 but the sensible option has to be a 3-5-2. Jure Travner and David Barron look far more comfortable, while John Potter can just about cope in a back three. It looks like Lee Mair may be back after suffering hand, foot and mouth disease (don't laugh, it's a real illness) although it's likely he'll be on the bench at best. Hopefully he'll take the slot of Jamie McCluskey, who disgracefully was a sub last week after his public celebration of a Celtic goal. Still out are David Barron, Gareth Wardlaw and Garry Brady, although we may get a sighting of the lesser spotted Nick Hegarty.
As mentioned earlier, this will be Smith's last visit to Paisley in charge of Rangers as he is due to leave in the summer. Last time he had a "last ever season", Rangers ended up with nothing, which was quite amusing for those of us who had had to suffer for years at school at the hands of the glory hunters. It would be comical if the same happened again this season, although it's unlikely as they're in the League Cup Final and still very much involved in the league title race. However, if arguably Rangers' greatest ever manager twice left after trophyless seasons it would be incredibly funny.
We were due to play Rangers in December but the game had to be cancelled due to frozen pipes. Such have been the changes in the west end of Glasgow since then that I've had to bin the preview I'd kept from then and just written a new one! That's mainly because they decided to sell Kenny Miller, despite him scoring over 20 goals in the first half of the season. While it's understandable the banks wanted money for a player who could leave for nothing in the summer, selling your star striker was a rather odd move - had he won them the title they'd have more than made up for his departure with Champions League cash.
In his place came David Healy, who has been linked with Rangers in every transfer window for the last five years as he supports the men in light blue. More importantly, they also got Nikica Jelavic back from injury, who looks like he'll be able to score and create in equal measure. However, he could be one of a number of players missing tomorrow. Steven Naismith and Kyle Lafferty are also decent attacking options but Smith managed to hate someone who is more despised then the latter. Step forward El Hadji Diouf, a man who is universally hated by just about everyone. He'll get plenty of abuse tomorrow, but the guy seems to thrive on it.
Away from ins and outs, Rangers still have a decent squad. Steven Davis is the best midfielder in the country and has been joined by youngsters like Jamie Ness recently. Someone at the other end of the scale is Davie Weir, who is still plodding about at the age of 40 alongside Madjid Bougherra. Former Saint Kirk Broadfoot had been getting a run in the team earlier in the season before being injured while rightback Steven Whittaker is often a goal threat. In recent times, Allan McGregor seems to have settled down a bit and is among the top goalkeepers in Britain.
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