Giovanni van Bronckhorst rules out debut against Celtic for Aaron Ramsey

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst ruled out a Celtic Park debut for Aaron Ramsey and dismissed suggestions that Allan McGregor’s place in the team was under threat.

Ramsey joined on a loan deal from Juventus on Monday but the Wales international cautioned that he might not be fit enough to play in the derby on Wednesday night.

The 31-year-old last played in mid-November, for Wales, and has had injury issues as well as contracting Covid-19 in January.

Ahead of Wednesday’s cinch Premiership encounter at Parkhead, van Bronckhorst said: “Aaron trained with the squad. He is just coming back from a couple of weeks when he didn’t play, so it’s too soon for him to be involved, but I expect him to be in the squad in the near future, really quick.”

McGregor’s position came under scrutiny after he made two costly errors during Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Ross County.

But the Rangers manager said: “I don’t have a decision to make. For me, Allan is the number one goalkeeper and you know with goalkeepers, if they make a mistake, most of the time it’s crucial.

“But I think Allan is still a great goalkeeper. He has saved us many times this season and it would be strange for me to get him out of the team after the game on Saturday.

“You don’t want to make mistakes on purpose, it will overcome you, but Allan turned 40 on Monday so he has all the experience to overcome this situation.

“For me there was no discussion to think about taking Allan out of the team.”

Van Bronckhorst went on to experience huge games with Arsenal, Barcelona, Holland and Feyenoord after his playing stint at Ibrox around the turn of the century, but he admits the prospect of facing Celtic again is a major moment.

“It’s the case for players and it’s the same for