PERHAPS being stuck in the stand while his team-mates were capitulating to their heaviest defeat of the season wasn’t the worst situation for Jason Holt to find himself in. The Rangers midfielder was nursing a minor injury the last time his side travelled across the city to Celtic Park and watched on with mild horror as Rangers crumbled to a 5-1 defeat. His memories, however, as they prepare to return to the same venue tomorrow is feeling frustrated at not being able to help out as Moussa Dembele completed a hat-trick as Celtic ran out comfortable winners. He will hope to be able greater influence on the outcome this time around.
“I was injured but I was at the game,” he said. “You feel for the boys and the most frustrating thing is not being able to help out. We looked back on it at the time. That was September so it’s a wee while ago now.
“This will be a different experience so I’m looking forward to it. It’s always a great atmosphere in the ones I watched previously at Celtic Park and Sunday will be no different. We’ve made improvements since the game in September and we’ll go there with a strategy to go and get something from the game. Every player looks forward to an Old Firm game. These are the ones you want to play in. These are the games players sign for Rangers to play in. Any time you go to Parkhead it’s a difficult game and this will be no different.”
Few will give Rangers a chance of winning, certainly not the bookmakers who were offering 9/1 in some places for an away victory. That’s something no domestic side has managed at Celtic Park this season but Holt is not entirely without hope.
“Most people on the outside don’t think we can win but as players we believe,” added the former Hearts player. “If nobody else believes in you then as players you need to believe in yourselves. We will thrive on that. We can’t pay any attention to what is happening on the outside. We concentrate on what is said in-house. Of course we have to have confidence and we do going into this game.
“You need to give Celtic credit. They have done extremely well this season and everyone has to say that. Domestically they are unbeaten but we will go on Sunday with a task to do. That would be great [to be the first team to beat them]. We have the task of going there and trying to win the game. Celtic have done extremely well and we’ve played them three times this season and not won. So I think we owe it to the fans to go and do it.”
Celtic are on the cusp of winning the title for a sixth successive season and stand over a 33-point gap to their oldest rivals. Holt acknowledged their superiority but felt the gulf wasn’t as great as the table may otherwise suggest.
“I don’t think so,” he added. “We wanted to challenge this season and get European football. If you look at the league table it doesn’t look that much of a challenge. But the target was second place and we’ll look to achieve that.”
Tomorrow’s game will likely bring to an end Graeme Murty’s temporary stint in charge of the Rangers team after six matches. It has been a difficult situation for the former Scotland defender who has bridged the gap between Mark Warburton’s departure and the imminent arrival of Pedro Caixinha but Holt has nothing but praise for the work the under-20s coach has done in holding the fort.
“He’s been great since he came here,” he added. “It’s been hard for him as it’s been difficult circumstances but as players we can only give him 100 percent which we have done. He’s had his own ideas and came across to the players really well. He has to get a lot of compliments for that.”
Holt worked under another Portuguese manager in Paulo Sergio during his time at Hearts but was wary of looking too far ahead despite Caixinha’s imminent arrival. ”I worked under Paulo at Hearts and he was really good for me. He gave me opportunities. Every manager has their different ideas on the game and he was no different. But I think our thoughts go no further than the game on Sunday and taking care of that.”
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