Lennon och Majstorovic inför machen
Vår tränare och svenske försvarsbjässe pratar om matchen som komma skall, samt om statistik och skador.
Åtta spelare saknas inför derbyt, varav en är kapten Brown, någon Lennon vet att laget kommer sakna, men menar sedan att det inte finns några ursäkter.
"There's nothing I can do about those eight being out. We'll certainly miss Brown. He was excellent the other night and very unfortunate. But there will be no excuses come Sunday. We've a squad deep enough to cope and we have coped with big players being out already this season. Hooper was out for a lengthy time, Maloney has been out and now Ki and Cha.
"It's not a defining game by any means because we're only halfway through the season, but psychologically it would give the players a huge boost to come out with a result. Myself, Johan and Alan will speak to the players, but it's difficult to replicate the experience of actually going out there. It's a great venue and a great fixture and my own personal experiences there were very good. I really enjoyed playing there. I hope the players take that on board and relish it. That's why we brought them here and that's why they came."
Det kommer vara en hel del debutanter på Ibrox, något som kan vara en nackdel, men Lennon ska göra sitt bästa för att se till att de är mentalt förberedda.
"I don't talk to them too much. We just try and give them bullet points if we can. We don't want them to get too fired up. The important thing for us will be discipline - we want to keep 11 players on the pitch. A lack of experience can possibly make that a greater danger. Alan is probably the last person to be giving players advice for staying on the pitch. Myself and Johan will have to talk to them and tell them to keep their head and focus. We'll tell them to just concentrate on the game and get lost in the game. You can do that. You can zone out and block out the crowd. If you prepare yourself well you can do that no problem. We've fallen short in these games so far so that's an incentive for us to go and get a performance and result and see the bad moments out which we probably haven't done in previous games.
"We'll go over the last one again and we'll look at recent footage of Rangers. But it happens to us all. I did it myself the first time I was at Wembley with Crewe when we played in the play-off final. I just completely forgot about the game, let the occasion get to me and I was hopeless that day. I thought if I ever get the chance to go back and do that again I would play the game rather than all the razzmatazz that goes with it."
Paddy McCourt ryktas sedan komma till start mot Rangers, vilket gör att han förmodligen blir den enda spelare framåt som kan bidra med den offensiva kreativitet och teknik som är viktig, detta då Fredrik inte verkar börja på bänken. Inför matchen passar Lennon på att hylla denna tekniska nordirländaren och hans förmåga att "find a weakness in someone and exploit it. He knows he didn't cover himself in glory when he came on as a sub in the last Old Firm game so he's another who'll want to rectify that and prove he can play in these high-intensity matches". Dessutom var tränaren imponerad över spelarens passningsförmåga och speluppfattning.
Men trots Paddy ger media inte ger laget stora chanser att ta med sig tre poäng på grund av alla skador. Men detta tror inte Lennon ska ha för stor negativ påverkan på laget och menar att det visst är möjligt att vinna.
""At Leicester we used to go to places like Liverpool down to the bare bones, but we'd get a result. Sometimes you get a surprise package. There could be a player who produces a performance and you think: 'Where did that come from?' Then they kick on from there."
Inför matchen har även Majstorovic, vilken kommer bära kaptensbindeln, i en intervju svarat på den kritik, vilken han tycker är orättvis, angående lagets försvar. Ett försvar han anser är starkare än rivalens och menar att statistiken styrker hans åsikt:
13 mål på 18 matcher för Celtic, medan Ranges har släppt in 17 på 16 matcher. Dessutom har the Hoops nio hållna nollor, medan Gers har endast tre. Rent statistiskt har han rätt.
"I don't know where this criticism comes from. If you look at the statistics we have conceded less goals in the whole league and they have two more games to play. If somebody needs to be criticised for the defence then it is them because they have conceded more goals. I don't know why this bullshit is coming out. It is always like this. In this business there is always talk, there are always different opinions, but on the pitch we know the qualities we have. Statistics are statistics and they never lie."
Kritiken har varit mycket centrerad kring att lagets försvar har läckt rejält i de viktiga matcherna, speciellt med tanke på matcherna mot Braga och Utrecht, där man blev rejälv förnedrad.
Men trots att man ännu inte bevisat att man i de viktiga matcherna kan håll tätt, så har vi trots allt hållit nollan två matcher i rad, något inte Rangers har lyckats med.
"If you see the games we have played, at least four or five of the goals we conceded we can cut out, really unlucky goals. Especially the second half against Inverness. It was bad for the team and also for myself. I had a really bad second half against Inverness.
"There have been a lot of changes in the position and it is not always the best to change all the time.
"Now we have played, me and Thomas, for a lot of games. We are playing well together and we just need to be focused and keep on going. It's always small things that make a difference."
Angående förra mötet mot Gers säger han följande om de målen man släppt in:
"It was an own goal, the first goal, the second goal was really unlucky and we don't even need to discuss the penalty."
Nu inför det stundade mötet medger han att det är dags att visa att man kan prestera i de stora matcherna, men säger att laget är redo för Rangers och att andra måste kliva fram i de skadades frånvaro.
"It will be a very tough match against Rangers. It is an away game for us but we're in good shape. We got back on track with a good win over Motherwell and now we can go four points ahead. We need to see those possibilities. We have a couple of players missing but it's time for someone else to come in and show their quality. We have huge quality in this team. We are ready."
"We've had a problem in the big games so far this season. So yeah, I believe we need a result against Rangers on Sunday. It's time to show we can get up for the big matches as well as the other ones.
Miller, med sitt sjuka målsnitt på mer än ett mål per match, är ett stort hot, något svensken såklart är fullt medveten om.
“Miller's a goalscorer for Rangers, he has that nose for a goal.So I'll need to stay focused on my job and you can't give him anything - if you do he will score for sure."
Nu är det inte långt kvar tills det smäller, 13:45 på Ibrox. En match som visas på TV4 sport. Vem vinner? De som är bäst såklart, och vilka är de? Jo, jag säger som Henke: Celtic, alltid Celtic.
