Martin O'Neill is savouring the prospect of a "rocking" Celtic Park as he prepares to face Rangers at Parkhead for the first time this season.
O’Neill returned to Glasgow for a second time immediately after Rangers put the final nail in the coffin of Wilfried Nancy’s reign with a 3-1 derby win in early January.
The 74-year-old has presided over cup wins at Hampden and Ibrox against Celtic’s city rivals – also overseeing a stirring comeback draw on the road – and is aiming to continue an impressive derby home record from his first spell in charge.
After clinching a famous 6-2 victory in his Old Firm debut, O’Neill guided Celtic to nine wins and two draws against Rangers at Parkhead before suffering a sole defeat in February 2005.
Rangers go into the game on the back of two extremely costly consecutive defeats but can give themselves a real chance of overhauling Celtic and securing a place in the Champions League qualifiers.
O’Neill said: "It’s an Old Firm game so regardless of the result before, I think that it’ll be a strong Rangers side. But I think there’ll be a big reaction as well too. So we’ve got to be ready for that ourselves.
"But the place will be rocking on Sunday. And the crowd at this minute seems in unison with the club, which is good news. And the players have fed on that as well too."
The return of the Green Brigade, coupled with five successive wins and a ceasefire in anti-board chants, has ensured the Celtic Park atmosphere has improved significantly in recent weeks.
O’Neill believes it has made a huge difference and, on reflection, believes players were adversely affected by negativity and the absence of a strong vocal backing earlier in the campaign.
"I probably played it down, and maybe I wasn’t sure when I came in here first of all," he said.
"There obviously was a bit of ill feeling at the time and there didn’t seem a united football club.
"I said I wasn’t sure it affected the likes of (Daizen) Maeda or (Reo) Hatate or people like that.
"But there’s no doubt at all about it. The crowd, in full voice for a start, cheering the team on, even allowing for mistakes, which we inevitably make, I think that that’s been very, very positive. And I think it’s rubbed off on the players. I genuinely think that."
O’Neill cannot wait to sample the edge and noise that comes with this fixture off the pitch.
"When I just go back to the cup game at Ibrox, where we had our (traditional) allocation of fans, and from way back in my time before, it’s so strong," he said.
"It’s probably not going to happen, certainly not for a long, long time again, after the debacle at Ibrox, but I’ve been for the full allocation of fans, both at Ibrox and at Celtic Park. And I think that that makes for a fantastic game, fantastic atmosphere."
Kick-off on Sunday is mid-day.
