Celtic is bigger for Rangers than PSV and Michael Beale can paint rosy picture with derby success - Kenny Miller

Let me paint a picture for you. Rangers beat Celtic at Ibrox today in the first Old Firm derby of the season. They go top of the Premiership table, two points clear of their rivals across the city.

They face Livingston at home in the quarter-finals of the League Cup – a competition Celtic are already out of. And they’ve got a Europa League campaign to look forward to, in a group that gives them a real chance of progressing to the knock-out stage. Do you think if Michael Beale had been offered that scenario at the start of the season he’d have taken it? I reckon he’d have ripped your hand off.

Now, saying it is one thing. Doing it, and actually beating Celtic is another. Personally, I think they will. And if they do, that puts Rangers and Beale in a good place going into the international break.

Listen, the 5-1 defeat to PSV in the Champions League on Wednesday night was a sore one. And I’ll stand by my view that it’s unacceptable for a Rangers team to suffer that scoreline against ANYONE.

No player, manager or fan can ever accept losing in that manner. And the riches that would have come from being in the Champions League are significant, so it’s a blow for the club. But it’s gone now. And for me, today’s game against Celtic is bigger than the one in Eindhoven.

Some people within Ibrox might disagree. But at the start of last week, if you’d offered me a straight choice between Champions League football or an Old Firm victory I’d have taken the latter. Today is Rangers’ bread and butter. And trust me, pick up three points at Ibrox and Wednesday night will be completely forgotten about.

There is no better game to bounce back in after PSV. Rangers need to win the game and actually get ahead of Celtic. I’ve heard it said