Graeme Murty wary of "winding up" rivals Celtic ahead of derby day.
Graeme Murty admits he is wary of "winding up" Celtic but reckons his Rangers side are capable of beating the Hoops on Saturday.
The new Ibrox boss did his best to shy away from questions about the league leaders' current form ahead of this weekend's Parkhead showdown.
Brendan Rodgers' men recently saw their 69-game unbeaten run halted by Hearts and have already dropped more points this term than they spilled in the whole of last year's 'Invincibles' campaign.
But Murty was in no mood to add his name to the list of pundits who have argued Celtic have slipped back from the high standards they set last season.
The Ibrox side, meanwhile, have had their own ups and downs of late but Murty believes recent victories over Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibernian are proof they can handle the red-hot atmosphere they will face at Celtic Park.
"We've always got a point to prove against Celtic, not just this game," he said.
"It's the Old Firm derby - it's one of the biggest and best games in the world - so any time that game comes around we have to be at our top level.
"The last thing I want to do is give Celtic any motivation by telling them they're dropping off a level and really winding them up.
"What I'd like to say is that we know that when we preform properly we can give anyone a game, so regardless of the level Celtic perform at or what they try to achieve, we have to make sure we concentrate on delivering our best performance of the season."
Murty has previous experience of leading Rangers out for a derby clash having masterminded a 1-1 Parkhead draw during his stint as caretaker last term.
But he has told his players they will have to fire themselves up instead of relying on their previous playbook for inspiration.
The Gers boss said: "We've looked at everybody who's played against Celtic recently and where they've had success and where they have found problems.
"We'll also go back to our game against them previously.
"But before anything else we look at, it is a mentality thing. You have to walk out in that stadium, be ready to go and represent the club.
"If we can get the mentality right, everything else flows from that."
Gers' first victory in the east end of Glasgow since 2010 remains a hugely unlikely scenario but Murty believes a repeat of their Dons, Hearts and Hibs displays will help their cause.
"We've gone to Murrayfield, Easter Road and Pittodrie and won," he said. "The boys have to gain some measure of encouragement and enthusiasm from that. We do know we are capable of playing at a level.
"But we know against Celtic we are going to have to be at that level for the whole game."
Murty is refusing to rule out Ryan Jack's involvement despite seeing the midfielder stretchered off during Wednesday's win over Motherwell but confirmed skipper Lee Wallace will not feature