Old Firm, new faces Scottish Premier

Rangers v Celtic (Ibrox, Saturday, 12.30pm): In Glasgow every Old Firm game is more important than the last, but Gordon Strachan does not recognise today's first of the season as pivotal to his future

Strachan, vilified at the start of the season after his team's 5-0 hammering in their opening Champions League match against Artmedia Bratislava, takes his side to Ibrox with a chance to redeem themselves - in the minds of supporters, if nowhere else.

"You never know when there will be a crucial point in your career, as a player or a manager," Strachan said. "I remember playing for Dundee at Queen of the South. We lost 6-1, but a scout recommended me to Billy McNeill at Aberdeen and I signed for them the next week.

"That was a crucial day, but I'd never have known it at the time. You only know how crucial certain games are when you look back at them years later."

After a start to the season that saw their manager under pressure after only two games, Celtic have consolidated well and find themselves a point ahead of their great rivals heading into this afternoon.

Victory would confirm a steadying of the ship; defeat to the champions, and his good friend Alex McLeish, would spark another debate over whether the former Coventry and Southampton manager is up to this job. Soccer supporters may have short memories, but not short enough to forget that embarrassing European exit.

The managers' friendship, formed in their days as team-mates in Aberdeen's Cup Winners' Cup-winning side of 1983, adds another interesting twist to this afternoon's affair.

McLeish was mindful this week not to comment on Strachan's position, but in a typical example of how quickly fortunes swing in Glasgow a Celtic victory would mean it is McLeish under the spotlight ahead of Wednesday's Champions League second-leg tie against Anorthosis Famagusta.

"I have an idea of what the game will be like, but then I thought that about the job when I arrived here and I soon realised how much of a rollercoaster it actually is. It's been mind-blowing," said Strachan.

Questions remain over the long-term future of Celtic's Guinea defender Bobo Balde, while full backs Paul Telfer and Mo Camara haven't impressed.

One significant positive has been the Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura. The signing from Reggina has undoubted class, but it's a source of speculation as to whether he'll get the space to parade his talents amid the ferocious pace of an Old Firm match.

Celtic captain Neil Lennon will take his place in the heart of the Celtic midfield after an injury scare during training this week.

For Rangers, Thomas Buffel remains a major doubt with a thigh injury while Fernando Ricksen is suspended.