Rangers and Celtic away fan lockout is POSITIVE as Gordon Strachan happy to see 'nonsense' removed from fixture

Gordon Strachan insists it's a GOOD thing that away fans remain locked out of Rangers and Celtic clashes.

It's Brendan Rodgers vs Philippe Clement for the first time ever to round off the 2023 fixture card in the Scottish Premiership but as has been the case in the last few derbies at Ibrox and Celtic Park there will be no away support allowed inside. That's due to the Glasgow giants still being at odds over ticket allocations for the biggest fixture in the top flight - with the latest round of sparring between the giants coming over safety concerns with Rangers taking their case to the SPFL.

The Ibrox side claimed they won in front of a board subcommittee in a furious statement taking aim at Celtic's decision to continue the lockout. Celtic would then release a statement standing by the decision and the ban - before stating they hope to welcome away fans in the fixture again next year.

However, for the next head-to-head Celtic Park will be full of home supporters - and in a bizarre twist Strachan reckons that the move is a positive for the atmosphere inside the derby day cauldron. While veterans of the fixture have often criticised the spat between the rivals over visiting punters the former Celtic and Scotland boss flipped the script on the cynics.

He told Old Firm Odds: "It is going to be noisy, aggressive and nasty. Anyone who hasn't been already, you need to go and see it. It is exhilarating at times but sad at times when you listen to the songs. There are no away supporters this time, which some people think is a bad thing but I actually think it is a positive. We don't need to give a platform sometimes for the people and we need that nonsense out of the game.”

Strachan, whose son Gavin is a first team coach,