Colin Stein reckons Pedro Caixinha should have kept quiet about his fears over Alfredo Morelos’s temperament.
But the Rangers legend believes the Colombian has the ability to silence Celtic in this afternoon’s eagerly-awaited Old Firm clash.
Ibrox manager Caixinha voiced concerns Celtic would try to "provoke" Morelos, who appeared to kick out at Partick Thistle’s Jordan Turnbull last Friday night.
However, Stein, Rangers’ Cup Winners’ Cup final hero of 1972, hopes the 21-year-old – who has scored eight times in 10 games since his summer arrival – will be a big noise for all the right reasons.
He said: “Caixinha should be keeping that to himself, if that’s how he feels, rather than it going in the newspapers.
“But Morelos certainly looks the part and, I’ll tell you, he can hit a ball as well.
“So, if he gets a look at the goal he could make a difference. He’ll score goals if he gets chances.
“He’s the chief man, he’s the striker, but you can be the best striker in the world and if you don’t get the ammunition you won’t score.
“If he gets the ammunition we’ll see what he can do with it.”
Stein, a Rangers Hall of Fame icon, accepts that Celtic will go into today’s match as favourites, given results between the teams last season and their 56-game unbeaten run in domestic football. However, he insists Rangers can pull off a shock.
The 70-year-old added: “The game’s at Ibrox and anything can happen there, especially with the support behind Rangers.
“Celtic are superior, really, to all the other teams in Scotland but Rangers are playing well and scoring goals, so it’s up to them.
“The results last year against Celtic were terrible and Celtic are still a good team, so we’ll just need to wait and see.
“They’ve gone a while unbeaten but they're going to have to be beaten at some point and hopefully it will be this weekend.”
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