Celtic v Rangers: McLeish makes ‘out of the blue’ James Tavernier claim after ‘freak’ occurrence
Alex McLeish has claimed Celtic must deliver something “special” to break through the Rangers defence at Parkhead tonight.
The former Gers boss, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, insisted Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men will bounce back from their “freak” performance against Ross County.
Individual errors from the likes of Allan McGregor and Calvin Bassey saw the Light Blues concede three times in Saturday’s draw in Dingwall.
However, McLeish has suggested the Gers’ sub-par performance was a one off.
He insisted Van Bronckhorst’s men will have focused on “tightening up” ahead of tonight’s derby showdown.
Asked about Rangers’ defensive display ahead of tonight’s game, McLeish told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “Honestly, I think it was a complete freak.
“They haven’t lost a lot of goals in 40 games or something. It just looked like one of those bad days at the office. When is McGregor going to make another mistake?
“It’s a case for tightening up. They don’t come any bigger than the Celtic game. I wouldn’t think they would be going there without any confidence because of that result.
“Giovanni has changed the style a wee bit in terms of Tavernier being forward up the pitch. He’s tightened that up a wee bit.
“You maybe wouldn’t say that about Saturday’s game but that was out of the blue. It was a bad day and a couple of individual errors.
“I still think they look very tight defensively. It will take real special movement and inspiration from Celtic to get past that defence.”
Celtic head into the game off the back of a 1-0 win over Dundee United.
The Hoops are now just two points behind their Glasgow rivals.
In other news, Rangers TV pundit wowed as senior star set for axe after news from Ibrox.