Rangers v Celtic late team news amid 12 Old Firm debutants plus major Sam Johnstone and Ryan Naderi calls

A place in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final draw is at stake at Ibrox, with Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen awaiting them in the last four of the competition.

It will be McInnes’ first taste of the Old Firm derby as a manager and he could name a slew of debutants in this fixture.

Goalkeeper Ivor Pandur is Rangers undisputed No 1 and is set to take his place in goal, while McInnes is likely to go with his tried-and-trusted back four of Dujon Sterling, Emmanuel Fernandez, Olwethu Makhanya and James Penrice. Of those players, Pandur, Makhanya and Penrice would be experiencing an Old Firm match for the first time.

McInnes is poised to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Nicolas Raskin and stand-in captain Dan Neil - who played in the Tyne-Wear derby while at Sunderland - deployed in the deeper-lying midfield role. Cammy Devlin and Vanja Dragojevic are also pushing for starts, but Raskin and Neil are set to start.

McInnes has options in attack. Djeidi Gassama is the preferred option on the left flank, while Badredine Bouanani - a deadline-day loan signing from Stuttgart - might just win the battle to play on the other side ahead of Findlay Curtis.

Kim Minsu has impressed since joining from Girona and it is anticipated he will play in the No 10 role, although he could also play as a winger if McInnes decides to go with two strikers.

Who leads the line is a fascinating call. Rangers spent £9 million on Kevin Kelsy, although he has only played two matches and has yet to score. Ryan Naderi, at least has some experience of playing Celtic, has a recent goal and assist to his name and might get the nod, although Bojan Miovski is also pressing for inclusion after scoring a late winner against St Mirren on Wednesday.

Celtic’s goalkeeping decision

Celtic boss O’Neill only has one real conundrum to solve and that comes at the other end of the pitch.

On-loan Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone was given his first start during the week against St Johnstone and impressed. He is a viable option for the gloves ahead of Viljami Sinisalo and the England internationalist might just be preferred to the Finn.

Kieran Tierney is pushing for a return at left-back over Liam Scales and that spot in the defence appears the only one for debate, with Colby Donovan, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty filling the other berths.

Celtic tend to line up in a 4-3-3 formation. In midfielder, captain Callum McGregor is a stick-on to play, and he will probably have Mika Baur and Benjamin Nygren next to him.

Further forward, Sebastian Tounekti failed to take his chance against Saints and it would be no surprise to see Camilo Duran support No 9 Kasper Hogh as a second striker off the left, allowing Tierney to overlap. Haissem Hassan is in pole position to play wide right, although James Forrest might be preferred if O’Neill wants more defensive cover in front of Donovan.

If it is a Hassan-Hogh-Duran frontline, all three would be making their Old Firm debuts too. Across the two predicted XIs, there would be 12 players lining up in this fixture for the first time.

Predicted Rangers v Celtic teams

Rangers (4-2-3-1): Pandur; Sterling, Fernandez, Makhanya, Penrice; Raskin, Neil; Gassama, Kim, Bouanani; Naderi.

Celtic (4-3-3): Johnstone; Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Tierney; Baur, McGregor, Nygren; Hassan, Hogh, Duran.