Michael Beale told Rangers 'don't have the legs' to rival Celtic as Ibrox boss handed 2 point derby game plan

Confident Paul Lambert believes Rangers "don't have the legs" to keep up with Celtic as Michael Beale's side look to keep their title hopes alive.

Ange Postecoglou's side hold a comfortable nine-point lead a the top of the Scottish Premiership ahead ahead of the crucial derby showdown at Celtic Park on Saturday, where Beale will hope to kickstart late surge towards the top of the table with a crucial three points. But former Parkhead captain Lambert has all-but written off the hopes of the Light Blues' in catching relentless Celtic this term - as he named the key difference between the sides.

Speaking to BBC Sportscene, he said: “Celtic have got a fluency about them. It doesn’t matter who plays or what system the manager is going to go with, they look as though they know exactly what they’re doing. That’s the difficulty for Rangers, they find it hard to keep up with Celtic.

"If you can’t run in the modern day game, you’ve got no chance. You have to get close to people and I’m just not so sure if Rangers have the legs to combat that."

Despite insisting Celtic are the better team, he claims that the side that remains calm and plays to the best of their ability will earn bragging tights in Glasgow's east end. He went on: “I don’t think you can ever predict how an Old Firm is going to go.

"Whether Celtic have got the 60,000 there and Rangers don’t have anybody, it’s a unique game. It’s whoever brings their A-game to the table and whoever keeps their calm heads tend to win.

"Rangers benchmark has to be Celtic, that’s the game they have to win, it’s not the other games, it’s your Old Firm rivals that you have to turn over. The only disparity I see here is Celtic is a better team than Rangers at the minute."

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