A lot of the focus in the pre-derby buildup has been centred around Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers. The Gaffer missed last weekend's victory at Almondvale against Livingston with assistant manager John Kennedy taking the managerial duties, but the club would have been relieved that it was only a one game ban that the manager was handed for taking aim at the officials after Celtic's defeat at Tynecastle.
The manager has been undertaking his usual pre-match media duties, and will be relieved that the negative narrative that has followed his club heading into both derbies played already this season seems to have been eased off heading into this one.
Here are the key talking points that we picked up on from Brendan Rodgers pre-match press conference.
Fitness of Callum McGregor
Brendan Rodgers confirmed that captain Callum McGregor will be involved in the squad for Celtic's trip to Ibrox to face Rangers this weekend.
After not being risked on the plastic surface at Livingston the previous week, McGregor will be playing this weekend, and as one of the senior professionals in the team and one of the most experienced members of the squad, McGregor will be an incredibly key player should Celtic be victorious against Rangers on Sunday.
How decisive can this fixture be?
Derbies are often labelled with a title-decider tag, but this time it really feels like the victor of Sunday's match will be the team that goes on to lift the league title at the end of the season.
As expected, the manager gave a response that played down the potential ramifications of this fixture, with the manager stating "There’ll still be six games for us, so there’s still a lot of games. It might not seem like a lot of games but it’s a lot of games in a footballing context because there’s so much that can change in that period. My focus is purely on getting a positive result and then you assess it afterwards."
Refereeing talk
As previously mentioned, Brendan Rodgers was handed a one game ban for his comments on officials Don Robertson and John Beaton's performances in his side's defeat at Tynecastle.
Following that hearing, Don Robertson officiated Celtic's victory at Almondvale, and now John Beaton will be officiating Celtic's trip to Ibrox to face Rangers on Sunday.
Given the recent controversial association between Rodgers and the pair, many Celtic supporters have been seeing these refereeing appointments as something of a slap in the face of the club.
When questioned on Beaton taking on Sunday's game, Rodgers said "I think for me, for John to be given the game, these games are for the top referees, and John Beaton is one of the top referees in the country. He’s been allocated the game, and I’m comfortable with that. He’s refereed games I’ve been at before. My point was for that one game, I’m not talking about John Beaton’s career as a referee. My gripe was on that day. They will feel that they have to appoint somebody who is experienced, and John Beaton is that."
When further quizzed on potential pressure on Beaton heading into Sunday's game, Rodgers said "I don’t know. I’m not interested, I’m only interested in Celtic."
James McKenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie