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Brendan Rodgers says his Celtic side will "not soften up" because of the 14-point gap they currently hold over second-placed Rangers.

He also dismissed suggestions of it being "a dead rubber" at Ibrox today.

"We will always assume the pressure," the Celtic boss said. "We put ourselves under pressure in every game to win and to win well. So nothing changes in this aspect.

"I went there last season, the first game, under pressure. Now I go there with 14 points, but there's no change for us. That pressure will always be there and especially a game at Ibrox with no supporters."

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Rangers are without captain James Tavernier and vice-captain Jack Butland. Right-back Tavernier picked up an injury during Sunday's 2-2 draw at Motherwell and goalkeeper Jack Butland has been ruled out after a short hospital stay for a medical issue.

Liam Kelly is expected to deputise in goal and Rangers hope Leon Balogun will be available with fellow defenders Neraysho Kasanwirjo and John Souttar unavailable, as well as midfielder Tom Lawrence.

Celtic have a near-full squad to choose from.

Winger James Forrest is the only absentee with a foot problem.

Rangers host Celtic in the third Old Firm game of the season as part of Thursday's first Scottish Premiership fixtures of 2025.

Defending champions Celtic hold a 14-point lead over Rangers at the top of the Premiership and beat the Ibrox side 3-0 at Celtic Park in September.

Celtic also prevailed in December's League Cup final, winning on penalties following a 3-3 draw at Hampden.

Rangers have not beaten Celtic since May 2023 and last avoided defeat in a league encounter in April's 3-3 draw at Ibrox.

The Old Firm kicks off in half an hour, I know, what a treat on a Thursday afternoon!

Anyway, let's get into some build-up as Rangers host leaders Celtic.

Everton

Finally, Everton manager Sean Dyche gave a passionate speech when asked if he feels he has got the most out of his current group of players: "I'm certainly trying. There are no guarantees but I think there has been development from a lot of players here. My job here has been endless but nobody really cares - they are just bothered about 'go and win a game mate.' I've said that all the time. We've saved hundreds of millions of pounds, wages, skinning the squad down, all the rest of it - it's not relevant - it's 'just go win a game.'

"It depends how you measure it. I know the work we've done here. I know the work we've done financially. I know the work we've done with players - players here are worth 10x more than they were when we got here, so there's development. The only development fans and media and everyone cares about, including myself to some degree, is win games. Don't think I don't want that, that's my number one but while I'm doing that here, it hasn't just been concentrate.

"Some managers get the luxury of going, your job is to just concentrate on the team and that's it because everything else is in place. It clearly hasn't been here and it's still not. There is miles to go, there is endless work to go here.

"It depends how you measure it. If you measure it on just winning games, we need to do better, I need to do better. If you're measuring it on the whole job, I'm pretty happy."

Everton

Everton boss Sean Dyche on team news: "Tim Iroegbunam and James Garner are back on the grass, with the sports science side though, not ready for us yet. There is still a bit of time to go for them but they are making progress.

"I doubt Dwight McNeil will be ready at the weekend, it is settling but getting him to that final moment where he can join in again is proving a bit trickier than we thought."

On Seamus Coleman: "No, he's not ready. Nothing too serious, but he is not ready for this one."

Everton

Everton manager Sean Dyche on if he expects to make any moves in the January transfer window: "Forgetting about the numbers, I've been doing this a long time and notoriously January is a very tough month because you never know.

"I'm not saying no but it is very tough. Forgetting about numbers, usually if big deals are done then they have often paid a lot of money for those big deals to happen."

Everton

Everton manager Sean Dyche on whether there is any truth in reports linking Dominic Calvert-Lewin with a move to Serie A side Atalanta: "No there has been no contact from anyone. There is bound to be rumours, that is the nature of it."

On whether they would allow him to go if an offer were to come in: "I think we'd think about that if it happened but as there has been no contact then there is no discussion needed."

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Everton

Everton manager Sean Dyche on Neal Maupay's comments posted on social media this week: "I think it's fair to say there is a bigger picture at the football club that I'm focusing on. I'm not too worried about his comments."

For context, Maupay - who is on loan at Marseille from Everton - posted on X: "Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile."

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Everton

That's all from West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui but the news conferences don't stop there! We've not got words from Everton's Sean Dyche coming as they look to bounce back from the 2-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest.

The Toffees face Bournemouth on Saturday.

Anon:@alex 13:05. For clarity slot has lost 2 games in all comps not just league in 2024 and 1 of those was on pens. Both managers have played 51 games. Slot has lost 2 and drawn 8 whilst arteta has lost 7 and drawn 9.

Anon:@Alex 13.05 Arne Slot lost 1(ONE) match across all competitions in regulation time in 2024

West Ham United

A final bit of team news from West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui, who confirmed they would be missing first-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski after he suffered a head injury during their win at Southampton on Boxing Day: "We have to wait 10 days to fulfil the Premier League protocol, after that he will be ready to help us but we are confident in [goalkeepers] Alphonse [Areola] and Wes [Foderingham]."

kyzatoonfan4 on X: If Newcastle can bring in Trafford and Mbeumo. With Botman coming back and if we can maintain current form. With the form of Chelsea and Manchester City being inconsistent. No European football we could get 3rd. 3rd place and winning a cup would be amazing.

West Ham United

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui spoke about his attacking options, starting with the form of summer signing Niclas Fullkrug, who has scored one goal in five appearances since returning from injury at the start of December: "Niclas is our player and is getting better step-by-step because he was out for a long time. We have other options too, but he is one player ready to help us."

The Hammers boss also spoke about missing striker Michail Antonio, who has returned home from hospital after suffering a "lower limb fracture" in a car crash last month: "Michail is going to be out for some time, but it's good he's home with his family. For sure he is going to try to recover as soon as possible but we're not going to have him back here for a long time."

West Ham United

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui says the club is working on potential transfer targets but refused to go into detail in his news conference: "We have lost two important forwards [Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen], but the club knows our needs and will be working.

"We have to be focused on the next matches, because it's going to be very demanding.

"The club is working to do this work, and we have to put our focus on being ready to compete in games.

"I don't talk about the market here - I'm more focused on the next games, and having all our strengths and beliefs on Saturday. The players who aren't here won't help us on Saturday."

West Ham United

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West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui refused to put a definite timescale on captain Jarrod Bowen's return from a fractured foot he suffered during Sunday's 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool.

"Let's see, but he's not going to be out for a few days, for sure," said Lopetegui.

"Unfortunately for us he has an injury, he played for 30 minutes with it, and now he has to recover.

"It's not good news for us, but we are sure he will work hard on his recovery because of his character. I prefer not to give a number of days, but we'll see how things develop.

"Jarrod is one of our main players, and our captain, but we have to find solutions, and it's up to the other players to show they're ready. We're looking for Jarrod to recover quickly, but in the same way looking at the other players."