JOHN Brown would love to tell his fellow Rangers supporters that everything is going to be okay.

That this Saturday afternoon at Ibrox Stadium, the team he played for will find a way to beat a Celtic side which on paper, and on grass as it happens, is several levels above their old rivals.

A surprise victory, and that's what it would be, for the home side would arguably mean that the Pedro Caixinha era had started for real.

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After all, a win over Celtic four days after they toughed it out at Firhill to reach a major semi-final would be far and away the Portuguese’s best work since he landed in Glasgow. It would certainly ease some of the pressure on him.

But Bomber Brown, as he is known to all, is a realist. He’s not fearful of what might happen – this man doesn’t do fear – but when asked if he thought Rangers could win, this Ibrox great paused for quite a few seconds before he said: “It has been hard to be a Rangers fan over the last few years. We’re waiting to see the team progress and give us something to shout about, and we’re still waiting.

“It’s not just the Old Firm, it’s the other games against Hearts, Hibs and Partick Thistle. You’ve got to win football matches, it’s as simple as that, and if you don’t you won’t be around for long.”

Succinctly put.

Rangers must start to win the big matches. Saturday would be a decent place to start.

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Caixinha’s team, and it happened before he arrived, can be terrific for half an hour but then fall out of a game,which they simply can’t afford to do against Celtic. They won’t get away with it.

“It’s a gradual process for Rangers who are trying to build things up again after where they have been,” said Brown, a personality that dressing room could be doing with.

“But because Celtic have won so many titles, people are building things up and saying that Rangers can’t do this or can’t do that. Rangers need to find a level playing field again.

“They’ve got directors putting money in and you need the right coaches in there to be able to source the right players who know what it means to play for Rangers. The fans demand success and it’s not as easy as that.

“I think the thing for Pedro this season is to cut into the 30-odd points Rangers conceded to other teams last season to make it a lot tighter - and make a better fist of it against Celtic.

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“That will be difficult. Celtic are the benchmark, have the quality players who have been playing together for a number of years. It was similar to when I was playing in our nine in a row squad because when we were churning it out we got respect – and Celtic have got that right now.”

Rangers could of course win on Saturday but they won’t win the league. They could even close the gap, you never know, but Celtic are going to win seven titles in a row. As things stand, getting to ten is a probability.

What Brown hopes more than anything looking towards this match is that Caixinha learned some lessons from the two games against Celtic he was in charge of, a 2-0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat and a record 5-1 loss at Ibrox.

Caixinha was in the Parkhead stand when Rangers, under Graeme Murty, worked out a way to nullify Celtic.

“Graeme knew the strengths of the Celtic team and he cancelled them out and they could have nicked it at the death too,” said Brown. “So that was a fantastic performance from the team to come out with a point when everyone had written them off.

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“Pedro didn’t use the same tactics in the following league game but hopefully he has learned from what happened at the end of last season and puts it to good use.

“If Rangers try to go toe to toe with Celtic there will only be one winner."

Brown’s first taste of this fixture was a 5-1 win at Ibrox. But that easy day didn’t mean his nerves were settled and this warrior had to blow into a paper bag a few weeks later. to normalise his breathing, when the two met again at Parkhead, with Celtic running out 3-1 winners.

This game does strange things to people.

“It will be interesting to see how the new players react,” said Brown. “Some of them could freeze but someone like Bruno Alves will relish it. They don’t know what’s going to hit them.

“With so many foreign players I think it’s going to be a rude awakening for some of them because there is no hiding place in an Old Firm game.

“You are needing guys like Kenny Miller – more so than the manager – to impress upon them what lies ahead of them. They have to be focused for 90 minutes because if you switch off against Celtic it’s been shown that they’ll beat you.

“They were undefeated last season and there will be a strong case for that again this season."

Now that must have hurt him to say.