Glasgow Rangers will be looking at putting this season firmly in the rearview mirror, with nothing to play for over the final four matches of the Premiership campaign.

Michael Beale will be hoping to secure his first win over Celtic at the fifth attempt as the Old Firm rivals visit Ibrox this afternoon in what is a meaningless clash in terms of the title race.

There could well be a few changes from the routine win over Aberdeen last week, and with the summer transfer window looming on the horizon, Beale will aim to give some fringe players opportunities to either showcase their abilities with regard to a potential move away, or judge who actually wishes to remain at the club next season.

One player who deserves a start today is defender John Souttar, who could get redemption against Celtic following his poor performance and defensive lapse during the clash between the two giants in their last Premiership meeting.

Will John Souttar start for Rangers against Celtic?

Making just his second start of the season, Souttar played a horribly misjudged backpass to Allan McGregor in the April tie from which Jota nipped in and scored Celtic’s third goal to virtually secure victory.

It wasn’t the best performance; though he does deserve another crack at the champions in order to prove to Beale he could play a key part in his team during 2023/24, and he shouldn’t be solely judged on one mistake made while the centre-back was clearly rusty.

If Souttar can replicate the form he displayed at Hearts last season, the manager could have a wonderful defender on his hands.

Across 27 league matches, he averaged an impressive Sofascore rating of 7.3/10, winning an impressive 71% of his total duels while making 3.9 clearances and 1.2 interceptions per game – placing in the top two for each metric – clearly proving he was a rock at the heart of the Jam Tarts' defence.

Indeed, the £8.1k-per-week Scot was dubbed a “presence” by his Light Blues teammate Ryan Jack recently, and if he manages to start in the last four games before the end of the term, he could put himself into Beale’s long-term thinking.

Although today's Old Firm clash will have no bearing on silverware, a solid performance could give the Englishman plenty of optimism heading into 2023/24 and a solid summer of transfer activity will allow the Gers to challenge for honours.