Boro coach Colin Cooper reckons his Old Firm Bhoys will ignite the Tees-Tyne derby on Saturday because his gang of Tims "have vast experience of the huge do-or-die Glasgow derbies against Rangers".
But ... there is no Pope or no Rome, or Battle of the Boyne (some battle fought over 500 years ago), involved when we face local opposition ... it is simply about FOOTBALL ... and how lucky we are!
Cooper: “When you play for a big club like Celtic you have to get into the habit of winning.
“There are four games against Rangers every season that you are expected to win, in addition to the league, the cup and getting into Europe.
“That’s why the manager brought these players here in January. He knew exactly what he was getting from them.
“They have brought us strong voices, strong opinions, strong personalities and strong characters into the dressing room and you can see the difference it has made.
“It’s the first taste of a North-east derby for our new players but I don’t think it will hold any surprises for them.
“In fact I think they will know exactly how to deal with it.”