Celtic trio make Brendan Rodgers' team a different animal and I can't see Rangers taming them – Chris Sutton

Callum McGregor. Matt O’Riley. Reo Hatate. It’s going to take more than three players for Celtic to get the job done against Rangers. But, if the trio fire, the title will belong to Brendan Rodgers.

Celtic have been patchy this season, no question. But it is striking that McGregor, O’Riley and Hatate have barely started any games together. If they have, they’ve not always been at full pelt due to returning from injury lay-offs. Statistics are not always my strongest suit, but going through the lists, I can see that Celtic’s best midfield trio have started just six Premiership games together out of the 35 played this season.

Rodgers’ team has won the lot. Against Livingston, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Hearts last autumn and Dundee and Hearts again in the past fortnight. I’d argue the two displays against Hearts in that sequence were amongst the best of the season and it is obvious that Celtic are a different animal when these boys are working in unison.

Fair enough, Paolo Bernardo had a big influence on the New Year game with his performance and goal in the 2-1 win for Rodgers’ team. But it remains fairly impressive that Celtic have managed to win two of the Old Firm games this season and draw the other without having their first-pick midfield as a combined starting unit.

They are proven players, with top-class ability and, crucially, an ability to handle the pressure situation they will face tomorrow and deliver on the stage.

Go back to their first one as a trio just over two years ago when McGregor was running around wearing a face mask to protect a fractured cheekbone. The captain bossed the game, Hatate hit two goals on his Old Firm debut and O’Riley was outstanding as Ange Postecoglou’s side blew Rangers away. The