Concerned Barry Ferguson has got tough with Rangers captain James Tavernier as he urged the Ibrox skipper to keep comments about Celtic "in house".
Michael Beale's men have a triple header against the Scottish Premiership leaders to come this season, with Tavernier set to lead Rangers out at Celtic Park on April 8 in the hunt for the search for a vital victory over the Hoops. The Ibrox side have the Scottish Cup on their mind with the competition their last realistic shot at silverware - but Celtic will look to keep their hopes of a Treble alive with a semi-final victory.
Ahead of the derby showdowns, Tavernier has called on Rangers to produce an awesome April as they look to make amends for February’s Old Firm flop in the Viaplay Cup final. Asked if Celtic will see a different Rangers next month, the skipper said: “We have to (improve) because we knew the performance in the final wasn’t good enough from our point of view. There is way more to give from us. So, yeah, definitely.”
Ferguson told the Go Radio Football Show he was concerned Callum McGregor would put the jibe on the Parkhead dressing room wall - as he would have done the same when he was Rangers captain. He said: "I would rather these things are kept in house.
"The way I would go about it is I would try to be respectful. If I was thinking about the cup final, and trying to redeem ourselves, I would just keep it behind closed doors.
"I would just wait until April 8 and make sure to produce a performance to come away from Celtic Park with something. That week leading up to the game you used to go through the papers and look to see if anyone had said anything from the Celtic point of view that would rile you up a wee bit.
"You would be right into the dressing room and say 'he has just said this' to fire you up a wee bit. Sometimes you have got to play it down and do your talking on the pitch when that whistle goes."
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