Michael Beale refutes any suggestion that he would be happy with a draw against Celtic.

"Never in a derby," was the response of the Ibrox boss when probed over whether a point would be a successful outcome in the January 2 clash.

Instead, Beale will send his players out to go "hell for leather" from the first whistle at Ibrox on Monday.

Rangers head into the match nine points behind their city rivals. And Beale admits Celtic are playing at a "higher level" than Rangers currently.

Despite the performance admission, Beale did not rule out a major swing in the title race as he cited the six-point lead Rangers had at this time last season.

READ MORE: Five talking points as Rangers make it four from four under Michael Beale

Offering his take ahead of the "great leveller" of the derby clash, Beale said: "I think at this moment in time they are playing at a higher level than us. I think everybody can see that.

"They are in a good rhythm. This time last year we were six points in front of them so things can turn around with time, with good recruitment, with training, with a feel-good factor around the club. That's the aim. We need to go back to where we were and quickly but while we're in that process we need to keep winning games.

"The derby is a great leveller, they'll come here to our fans who'll be very buoyant, we've come off four straight wins so we should go into the game with confidence so we need to go hell for leather from the first minute."

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