JAMES TAVERNIER insists he and his Rangers team-mates are desperate for another crack at Celtic after suffering a dispiriting 4-0 defeat at Parkhead earlier this season.
A brace from Liel Abada alongside goals from Jota and David Turnbull saw Ange Postecoglou’s side cruise to a comfortable victory over the visitors in the first meeting between the two sides this term.
The title rivals renew hostilities at Ibrox this afternoon and Tavernier admits that Michael Beale’s players are itching to set the record straight.
“That’s always the case,” said the Rangers captain. “You normally play these games and then there is an international break or a break after, so you always want to get that win.
“The performance that we put up at Parkhead wasn’t good enough at all and it is obviously something we need to rectify.
“We can only control ourselves. We want the result but after that we can only control what we do. That’s about putting in performances and, most importantly, getting the three points.”
Tavernier continued: “I tend to treat every game as the same. Obviously the level of magnitude of this game is higher than all the rest of them in the league because this is a rivalry. It is always the contenders who are going to be fighting for the league.
“There are bragging rights for the fans and you want to send them home happy with the bragging rights for the next few weeks. I don’t really think too much on individual games. I just approach this game wanting to win the game.”
After spending the entirety of his career in England before signing for Rangers in 2015, Tavernier is something of an outsider when it comes to the Old Firm. Having been born and raised outside of Glasgow’s goldfish bowl, he says he was aware of the scale of the rivalry but it wasn’t until he ventured north and experienced it first-hand that he truly understood its enormity.
“I was a Leeds fan and as a season ticket holder, I knew all about the Manchester United-Leeds rivalry,” the 31-year-old explained. “Then I went to Newcastle and there was the rivalry with Sunderland there.
“It set me up a little bit for coming up here but it is obviously on another level. It set me up a bit but it’s only when you’re really involved and playing the games that you know the actual magnitude. They are special games to play in.”
