Celtic have recently claimed that they do not require the presence of their long standing rivals Rangers in order to be successful.

This comes as a retaliation to comment’s made my Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond, who claimed that the survival of Rangers was crucial for not only Celtic, but the whole of Scottish football to prosper.

Celtic’s rivals Rangers have been plunged into administration, with £8 million being unpaid in tax since Craig Whyte took over the club in May.

Celtic managed to get a narrow 1-0 victory over Rangers, which propelled them to the top of the Scottish Premier League table. Rangers have been dominate since the start of the season, but have started to slip of late.

Victor Wanyama hopes he will be given the chance to prove himself in the forthcoming Old Firm match.

The Celtic midfielder was forced to watch on from the bench when his side went down 4-2 at Ibrox in September, but now he hopes his manager Neil Lennon will give him the green light to get involved.

It would be nice to play because I didn’t get off the bench last time. It’s the kind of game every player wants to play in,” he said.

“I think the fans have shown very good support to us and myself. They are always behind us and I am very happy to have fans like that.”