Regardless of the result against second placed Rangers on Saturday, Gordon Strachan's Celtic are still guaranteed top spot in the SPL. But Celtic boss Gordon Strachan insists that would be no consolation for being defeated by their Glasgow rivals.

"It will mean nothing on Saturday night if we get beaten," he said.

"The pain of any defeat isn't helped by looking at the table.

"I've been top of the league before and lost to Falkirk and never felt as bad." Strachan insists August's comprehensive defeat to Rangers had no impact on him or his players.

He said: "I didn't analyse it that much.

"I don't think you need to analyse it that much.

"After the game, the players decided they needed to get back in the race and they have done that during a difficult period with a lot of games.

"We had Champions League games and Co-operative Insurance Cup games in there and we went on a good run, which got us back in the position where we are leading again against a right good Rangers side.

"I'll leave it to other people to decide if we have improved or not.

"We just carry on as a group and see where we end up at the end of the season."