Rangers Old Firm hero Connor Goldson insists the Celtic leaked starting XI did not change Steven Gerrard’s preparations for Saturday’s derby.
Goldson scored twice to secure Gers a 2-0 win in the first Old Firm clash of the season and open up an early four point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
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There wasn’t only drama on the pitch, however.
In fact, there was huge controversy in the build-up to kick-off as the Celtic line-up was leaked online in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Goldson himself found out about Neil Lennon’s starting XI while on the team coach when contacted by a friend based in England, and the Celtic boss has promised to investigate the Parkhead ‘mole’.
But despite the leaked info, Goldson insists Rangers went into the game not trusting what had gone out.
Joining talkSPORT on Monday morning, Goldson told White and Jordan: “We went into the game, even in our pre-match meeting, we thought [Christopher] Jullien would play, we thought [Odsonne] Edouard would play.
“I think a few of us saw that team but we didn’t really believe it. In an Old Firm you can never trust anything. One day someone’s injured and the next day they are playing.
“Listen, every player wants to play in the Old Firm, injured or not. We actually went into the game thinking Jullien and Edouard would play.
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“Truthfully, I got on the coach and I got a message from one of my best mates who plays down south for Doncaster who said [Stephen] Welsh was playing and Edouard wasn’t playing. I messaged him back saying, ‘good one – we’ll see when we get there’.
“When we got there the team was true!”
Rangers are the only remaining unbeaten side in the Scottish Premiership this season having won nine and drawn two of their opening 11 games.
Celtic are four points behind but have a game in hand and Goldson says Gers now need to put a run together with some important fixtures coming up.
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He added: “It was a happy changing room. Obviously Old Firm days there is a bit of pressure on them; it’s more of a relief after winning the game.
“I had to leave the changing room for media so I didn’t get to see much of it. Everyone was happy and we got the result we wanted to.
“It shows where we are and where we want to get to. We’ve won Old Firms in both years so far but we haven’t backed it up with a run of winning games.
“There are some big games coming up. The European games come up now and we have to make sure we put together a good run.”
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