Gerrard: 'I wish I were playing'

Legendary former Liverpool captain Gerrard has made an impressive start to his first senior managerial role in Glasgow.

Rangers are unbeaten in 12 games under Gerrard and sealed their place in the Europa League group stages, where they will face Villarreal, Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow, on Thursday by holding out for a 1-1 draw at Russian side Ufa despite being reduced to nine men.

The blue side of the Glasgow divide were thrashed 5-0 on their last visit to Celtic Park as the Scottish champions sealed a seventh straight title in May. But Gerrard's arrival and 14 new signings have injected a fresh air of optimism at Ibrox over the past three months.

"This is a big game for me of course, I can't compare it to playing but I wish I was on Sunday," said Garrard. "These are the games you want to be part of.

"We know Celtic will come out the blocks quick to try and get the crowd going. We have to be ready from the first whistle."

Gerrard's former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has an excellent record in Old Firm games since taking charge of Celtic two years ago. The Northern Irishman has overseen nine wins and two draws in 11 meetings with Rangers, racking up an aggregate score of 30-6 in the process.

But Gerrard believes his side showed a resolve not seen in many years at Rangers with a robust defensive display to seal a 2-1 aggregate win in Russia in midweek and can cross the city confident of a first victory at Celtic Park since 2010 on Sunday.

"It's a big game on Sunday against a tough team so we have to recover and prepare well. We are going there confident," added Gerrard.

"We have players in the squad with experience playing in front of a big crowd but we are aware of the challenge of playing away from home. We feel like we are building something special here, these are the sort of games we want to be a part of and it will be fantastic for the supporters and the squad."