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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

'Get on with it' - Tavernier breaks silence on Celtic vs Rangers away fan lockout

James Tavernier has admitted Rangers must simply "get on with it" without the backing of any away fans at Celtic Park.

The Ibrox captain will lead his side out to a sold-out Celtic-only crowd after the clubs agreed that no away allocations be set aside for the remaining league fixtures between the Glasgow rivals.

In previous years allocations had been cut to around 700 from the former 7,000-seat away allocation at Celtic Park and Ibrox.

However, this time there will be no away fans inside Celtic Park with many predicting a hostile atmosphere for the visiting players.

Tavernier, though, remains confident his side can achieve a positive result even if supporters will have to watch the match on TV.

He said: "I think the majority of the game it tends to get blocked out but obviously you get parts where if you're on top that you're going to hear your fans.

"It's a position we've been in before, it is what it is and we'll have to get on with it.

"It's obviously something I've played with and you do get a real sense of atmosphere when you get that amount of fans (7,000 previously) but I'm not the person who can decide that, that's obviously people above and whatever they choose, they choose.

"Us as players have to just get on with it on the pitch and play the game."

On the match, he added: "We are in good form in the league, we go into tomorrow to get the result we want.

"We have performed really well away from home.

"We are in a good space and do our talking on the pitch.

"We have to have a good performance throughout the 90 minutes.

"Going into tomorrow we have to put in a display from the first whistle we are all proud of."

Celtic currently boast a nine-point gap over Rangers at the Scottish Premiership summit, but Tavernier is intent on reducing the deficit to six.

"It is important tomorrow we focus on bringing that gap down," he said. "Our focus in every game is to go get the three points.

"We always want to start the game strongly no matter who we play. We know they will have threats but we have been in good form at the back."

The Insider newsletter is the latest move by the team at the Rangers Review to bring content directly to you. We already have accounts on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tik Tok and Instagram but we will also send exclusive bespoke opinion pieces every day at 5pm direct to your email. Not only will you receive this piece from one of our team of Joshua Barrie, Derek Clark or Jonny McFarlane but you will also get our list of the best content published in the last 24 hours. It's a handy way to keep abreast of what's going on amid all the noise surrounding Scotland's most successful club. You can sign up here in five seconds with just an email address.

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