Rogne not fazed by Rangers

Posted Monday, February 22, 2010 by PA

Thomas Rogne will not lose any sleep over the prospect of marking Kris Boyd or Kenny Miller if he makes his Old Firm derby debut on Sunday.

January signing Rogne, 19, made his first start for Celtic in Saturday's 1-0 Clydesdale Bank Premier League win over Dundee United, which cut Rangers' lead at the top of the table to seven points.

Rogne said: "We haven't spoken about the Rangers game yet. I know they have very good strikers in Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller, but we can't focus too much on them."

He added: "We just have to focus on what we can do. If we do our best, I think we can do a good job at Ibrox."

Rogne, signed from Norwegian club Stabaek for around £250,000 last month, added: "The manager will decide if I play, I don't know.

"Of course, I have heard about the big rivalry between Rangers and Celtic, that it's a great game to play in with a brilliant crowd. But I've never actually even seen an Old Firm game on television.

"Back in Norway, a derby game for Stabaek was maybe against Valerenga in Oslo, but it doesn't compare. In our stadium, there were only 15,000 when it was full. Before I came to Celtic, the biggest crowd I played in front of was in Valencia at the start of this season when Stabaek played them in the Champions League play-offs.

"So it is kind of a dream for me to play in front of so many great fans here. I know most of them will be against us at Ibrox next week, but if I play I'll just need to think they are on my side."