Rangers players can show boss Pedro Caixinha they have a future at Ibrox - by defeating Celtic

That was the message from former Gers striker Gary McSwegan today as he looked ahead to the final Old Firm game of the 2016/17 campaign on Saturday.

New manager Pedro Caixinha has been running the rule over the squad which he inherited after taking over from Mark Warburton last month.

Read more: "Kenny Miller can play on at Ibrox until he's 40 - but only if he receives more support from Rangers team mates"

The Portuguese coach has decided that Kenny Miller, the 37-year-old striker, deserves an extension and talks have started with senior Rangers officials.

However, the rest of the players are still unsure if they will feature in the former Uniao Leiria, Nacional, Santos Laguna and Al-Gharafa manager's plans going forward.

McSwegan, the former Scotland internationalist who spent seven years at Ibrox at the start of his career, believes Caixinha will already have decided whose services he wants to retain and who he wants to offload.

But he feels that performing well in the final Glasgow derby match of the season and helping the Ladbrokes Premiership club triumph could make him change his mind.

"I think the manager will probably already know the majority of the boys that he wants to keep on and the ones that he wants to let go this summer," he said.

"I would imagine that he is probably 90 per cent sure of what he is going to do. But somebody could definitely change his mind in this game by producing a good display so there is that incentive there."

Celtic wrapped up their sixth consecutive Scottish title success with a 5-0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle at the start of this month.

So keeping their undefeated run in all competitions going - something which Rodgers has publicly stated is not a huge priority for him - is all that Celtic have to play for.

Read more: "Kenny Miller can play on at Ibrox until he's 40 - but only if he receives more support from Rangers team mates"

Rangers, who are nine points ahead of fourth-placed St. Johnstone in the Ladbrokes Premiership, are bidding to finish third in the league and book a place in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League next season.

Yet, McSwegan feels that stopping the Scottish champions from making history and going the entire season without losing a game will be a huge incentive as well.

"It is the Glasgow derby," he said. "Everybody is going to be up for it. Everybody is going to be up for it and will be determined to stop Celtic having an undefeated season.

"Celtic are desperate to do that so there is still a lot riding on this game even though they have won the league. It is far from being a meaningless games for both of the sides involved."

Rangers, who have lost four and drawn one of their five meetings with Celtic so far this season, have only been defeated five times by their city rivals once before in the modern era.

Martin O'Neill's side won all of their games - four league matches and one Scottish Cup clash - against Alex McLeish's team back in the 2003/04 season.

Rangers, however, won five times against Celtic in the 1963/64 season. They won two league games, two League Cup games and a Scottish Cup game as they won a Treble under Scot Symon.