GRAEME Souness believes that Rangers beating Celtic in this weekend’s derby clash would be good for Scottish football.

Graeme Murty’s side go into the fixture on the back of a six-game winning run in all competitions and can close the gap to the leaders to just three points with victory at Ibrox.

Souness, who spent five years as a player and manager at the Gers from 1986-1991, hopes to see his former club challenging again after years of one-sided title races in the Scottish top-flight.

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“Rangers are a wee bit closer and that’s good for Scottish football – it’s certainly good for Rangers,” he said to Sky Sports.

“Celtic are still a bit in front. It would go down to three points, they’ve never been closer to them, and this weekend will tell us a great deal.

“Obviously as an ex-Rangers man I want that to happen, but I think it would be good for Scottish football to give us a competition again so its not a one-horse race.”

When asked about what makes the game so special, Souness explained that he believes the Old Firm derby is a bigger game than some famous rivalries he has experiences in world football.

He said: “I’ve been involved in some big derbies – Liverpool v Everton, Liverpool v Man United, Fenerbahce v Galatasaray, but this is the biggest one.

“For Rangers and Celtic supporters, you don’t become one, you’re born one.

“It’s what it means to the football club. The build-up to it is enormous and if you win or lose, the consequences are either fantastic or you’re in despair because you’ve lost.

“And that goes right into the working life of all these supporters – it’s not something you can forget very easily if you’ve come unstick and lost a game.

“For me it’s the biggest derby I’ve been involved with.”