JOSH WINDASS hopes Rangers can reel in Celtic before their Hogmanay showdown as he bids to avoid a third Old Firm defeat at Ibrox.

The midfielder has been handed starts by boss Mark Warburton for both derby fixtures this term but has been unable to prevent the Gers suffering 5-1 and 1-0 losses.

Celtic are seven points clear of Warburton’s side in the Premiership and Windass knows Rangers can’t afford to let the gap get any bigger before their New Year’s Eve clash.

He said: “I have lost two now so I know what it feels like.

“There is nobody more than me in that dressing room who wants to win an Old Firm game now after losing two. It is not a good feeling but we will go into the next one and want to win it even more.

“It is still a while away on New Year’s Eve. We are just looking at St Johnstone on Wednesday night and that is the main focus.

Glasgow Times:

“We are out of the cup now so we have got to learn from that result. It hurt but we have got to learn from it and forget the cup and try and do well in the league.

“We have got to go into every game now and maintain the performances from the league games before it.

“We were playing well in the league so we have to keep that going and hopefully the points gap between us and Celtic by the time we do play them isn’t that large and we can maybe close it then.”

Rangers return to Premiership action against the Saints tonight with their sights set on a third consecutive league win following victories over Partick Thistle and Inverness.

Warburton’s side have failed to fire in Old Firm action this term and need to find a consistent run of form to ease the pressure at Ibrox.

Windass said: “In retrospect, beating Celtic doesn’t win you the league. You would love to beat Celtic and the fans really want you to beat Celtic.

“But in the long stretch, beating Celtic four times doesn’t win you the Premiership. If we take care of business, keep picking up points, improve and close the gap on Celtic in the table, then we can challenge for the title.

“Aberdeen want to challenge for the title as well, there are a few teams who fancy themselves for it. If you are not challenging for the title, then there is no point in being here.

“Being a Rangers player, you have to try and win every game. It’s no different in the next couple against St Johnstone and Kilmarnock, especially with them both being at Ibrox.

“We will go into them hoping and expecting to win both of them. But we know it won’t be a walkover. We need to play to our maximum to pick up three points in both games.”