Anthony Ralston says Celtic and Rangers should return to 'brilliant' away allocations of old

Anthony Ralston will get some time off with his family and friends this weekend.

However, he would much prefer to be sweating it out on the training ground with his Scotland team-mates.

That the Celtic right-back, who has come of age under Ange Postecoglou this season having been the nearly man for so long at Parkhead, wasn’t selected for the national team’s double-header against Poland tonight and Wales or Austria next Tuesday raised more than a few eyebrows. His own among them.

The 23-year-old defender isn’t the type to make a song and dance about it, though. Just as he didn’t when being overlooked at club level before his current manager saw enough in him to play him 40 times so far this season.

But having had a taste of the international scene, there’s no doubt that Ralston wants more.

His debut appearance, off the bench in that fabulous 2-0 win over Denmark in November, whetted the appetite and if the Celtic star – who has also chipped in with five goals this season – maintains his form, he could yet end up gatecrashing a World Cup party.

In the here and now, though, Ralston has been training with his non-travelling clubmates at Lennoxtown this week as Postecoglou keeps his players ticking over ahead of their next test – that crucial trip across the city to Ibrox a week on Sunday.

A win that day would take his side six points clear with the same number of games to play.

The last time they met, of course, Celtic won 3-0 on home soil in front of 60,000 of their own fans with no Rangers supporters in the stadium.

This time around, Ralston’s club has been offered 700 tickets for Ibrox and while it’s not many, the former Celtic youth academy graduate believes the team will benefit from any kind of backing.

And he