Brian Laudrup admits there will be a sizable number of those at Rangers who would be delighted to see Ange Postecoglou leave Celtic in the near future.

The former Ibrox player reckons his old side needs to find a solution to overcome the "psychological barrier" with the Premiership champions.

Michael Beale has yet to beat Celtic in any of his four derby encounters so far. 

And while this weekend's match may seem like somewhat of a damp squib as far as Old Firms go, Laudrup insists it's vitally important for Beale to get that monkey off his back.

He wrote in his Daily Mail column: "I think a lot of people at Rangers would dearly love to see the back of Ange Postecoglou. But that's just the respect the Celtic manager is getting for the job he has done in charge at Parkhead.

"You would never describe becoming champions of Scotland as an easy feat but Postecoglou's side have won the Premiership title very comfortably this season.

"Celtic have set the benchmark again, just as they did last season. You have to say they have been flawless. They have a clear identity in how they want to play their football and they have been relentless in going about their business.

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"They are not a team that will rest on their laurels. They will go looking for new players this summer and Postecoglou will want to keep raising the bar even higher.

"Looking at Rangers, you would have to say the Ibrox side have done all right since Michael Beale took over last November. I was back in Scotland for the Viaplay Cup final and the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic, and Rangers are not that far away from their old rivals. But there is a gap, that's for sure.

"And there is a sneaking feeling that Rangers are lacking something, perhaps the belief within themselves that they can go out and get a result against Celtic.

"That's the psychological barrier the Ibrox club needs to overcome as quickly as possible and they have the chance to do that when they host Celtic this Saturday.

"Of course, the match will have no bearing on the season but it's very much a game of incredible importance to Rangers and to Beale. They need to try to get a result and use Saturday as some sort of turning point, not for this season but to give the team self-belief going into the new campaign.

"Rangers have now gone quite a while not being able to beat Celtic and that is painful. So it's up to my old club to add that bit of spice going into the new campaign.

"Especially at Ibrox, Saturday is a game they can't afford to lose. A victory over Celtic would be huge and it would give Beale some comfort ahead of the summer transfer window, where he is facing the biggest rebuild since perhaps the days of Graeme Souness.

"The bottom line is my old club need to get their summer transfer dealings spot-on if they want to stop Celtic striding towards three in a row.

"If they don't get their recruitment right, pressure will mount very quickly and things could become uncomfortable for Beale. Rangers are lacking something, perhaps belief they can get a result against Celtic."