Celtic v Rangers: “Whatever anyone says, they have a team of winners in that dressing room, ” Scotty Sinclair

Odsonne Edouard can light up today’s Glasgow Derby and win the match for Celtic. That’s the view of his former teammate Scotty Sinclair who will be watching his old teammates try to get the better of theRangers for the first time in this frustrating season for the Hoops.

“I think he is a player who comes alive on the big stage,” the Celtic Invincible told Alison McConnell at The Herald. “He is a pretty chilled out guy off the park too and on it he is very calm and very measured. He has the right temperament to play at the very top level.

“He will love the fact that before he heads off to play in a tournament where France are the favourites to win it that he will be playing (the)Rangers.

“It gives him the chance to go there with a spring in his step and a bit of confidence. He will also be keen to score against (the)Rangers and help Celtic win the game because it is a game that you never want to lose in.

“The league is done but I am certain that the Celtic players will feel as though they have a point to prove. They will want to get out there and show what they have still got. You don’t become a bad team overnight. They still have players in there that can do it and this is the chance for them to go and show it,” the Preston winger said.

“Edouard also loves the games against (the)Rangers. Starting from that game when he came on at Ibrox and scored when we were down to ten men, he just knows how important the fixture is and he relishes that kind of pressure.”

Scotty Sinclair never had to endure the run of poor results against theRangers that the current Celtic side has had to go through but he reckons they have a chance to bring that to an end this afternoon by getting a moral boosting win for everyone associated with the club.

“They know how to win these games,” Sinclair stated. “They have it in them. I still think they might want to prove something to themselves. But I fancy them to win it. Whatever anyone says, they have a team of winners in that dressing room and they’ll want to go and show it.”

Scotty Sinclair is of course referring to the likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Kris Ajer and Odsonne Edouard but the more recent arrivals aren’t in a similar position and really need to start adding wins over theRangers to their own personal Celtic stories.

“It is all well and good that everything is fine when the team is winning. When things aren’t going well and it’s not worked for you, that is the time when you see the real character of a team and Celtic have shown that so often in recent seasons.”

The failure to reach the ten hurts everyone associated with Celtic but Sinclair believes the focus must now be on how Celtic cover from the disappointment – starting today – and re-establish themselves as the best team in Scotland.

“They will come back from this,” Sinclair stated. “It has been difficult for them and it has been disappointing with the way the league campaign played out but they have not all turned into bad players overnight.

“There is a strong spine still in that team. When the confidence dips it can be tough to find a way to get the momentum back but I think it is too early to look at one strong season from Rangers and say that they will go on now and leave Celtic in the shade.”

The Invincible star can’t wait for the chance to get back to Celtic Park himself where he has unfinished business after his three glorious seasons wearing the

“Celtic was an amazing chapter in my career,” he said. “I loved it. I won everything and I won a few personal awards which felt very special. We loved the club and we loved the city. The supporters were just incredible and took to me straight away.

“I would love to come back to Celtic Park for a game one day. It would be nice to properly get the chance to show my appreciation to them for what they gave me. I never really got that because I left the club in the winter transfer window so there wasn’t an obvious way for me to say goodbye. But they will always have a special place with me and every chance I get I still watch their games.”

Here is the Celtic team that will line-up to play theRangers today…