Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers feels a guard of honour for champions is a mark of respect that honours the traditions of football.
But he accepts that it would be a challenge for rivals that “come up short quite a lot” to applaud their opponents.
Celtic visit Ibrox on Sunday in their first game since clinching a fourth consecutive William Hill Premiership title and a 13th in 14 years.
Discussion over whether Rangers will form a guard of honour for their visitors started soon after Celtic’s 5-0 win over Dundee United.
But interim head coach Barry Ferguson pointed out on Friday that it has never happened between the teams and he thinks “it will always just remain that way”.
Rodgers said: “The guard of honour thing, it’s not a rule, that’s the first thing I would say. It’s not in the rules that you have to do it.
“And I think that when two clubs and the rivalry are so emotional, it’s always difficult for the team that comes up short.
“So, it’s one that I’m relaxed either way on it. It’s one where I’m a little bit of a traditionalist because there’s a lot of things that are going out of our game over on these isles that are just moving away from the traditions of the great managers and the great people that ran our game and were successful in our game.
“I always think if you’re a champion, or not a champion, showing that humility to the other team, whatever the rivalry is, it’s a mark of respect.
“But like I said, Celtic-Rangers, it’s an emotional rivalry, and if you’re up short, and if you come up short quite a lot, then it can be a challenge for you and to justify that with your supporters.”
Celtic moved 17 points clear last weekend but have lost the last two derbies and Rodgers has stressed the importance of atonement.
“This is a game that is all about pride, and we’ve proved our point over the course of this season in terms of our performance level, consistency,” he said.
“I think the challenge in these games is that we’ve been so comfortable going into the games, and I felt that has really disrupted our mindset. When it was win or bust in the cup final, we won it, because that’s it.
“These games we’ve been so comfortable, and even though you’re pushing, I know what these games mean to supporters and what it means to myself and the club, there just can be that little bit in the back of the mind that you’re 13 points clear or 16 points clear.
“And so that has taken a fraction of an edge off that you don’t want, but there’s maybe a subconscious thing there.
“But this here, this is our last game. We are fighting for the pride of our team and also for our supporters, because we lost the last game at Ibrox, deservedly so.
“We shouldn’t have lost the game at home, but we did, and we have to make that right in the last game.
“I hear the talk up here about meaningless games. There’s never that. A Celtic-Rangers game, there’s never a meaningless game or there’s nothing in the game. There’s everything in this game, everything.
“So, we have to go and prove that on the field. Yes, we are champions with the best team, the most consistent team, with the mentality, Champions League progression, all of this here. But these are important games.”
