Liam Kelly admits his major Celtic connection ahead of Rangers clash tomorrow

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Rangers take on Feyenoord at Ibrox tomorrow night.

Rangers host Feyenoord at Ibrox on Thursday night – and Feyenoord midfielder Liam Kelly has told the Daily Record that most of his family, including his father, are Celtic fans.

The Gers are back in European action tomorrow night, kicking off their group stage campaign after coming through a gruelling series of qualifying games.

A late winner against Legia Warsaw gave Rangers a group with Porto, Feyenoord and Young Boys, meaning it’s a difficult but fascinating group for Steven Gerrard’s side.

Feyenoord visit on Thursday, and whilst the ties between the two clubs go back to players like Bert Konterman, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Mols, there are also ties with Celtic.

Regi Blinker, Bobby Petta, John Guidetti, Henrik Larsson and Pierre van Hooijdonk all played for Celtic and Feyenoord, and one current Feyenoord player has ties to the Bhoys too.

Irish midfielder Liam Kelly joined Feyenoord this summer, following his former Reading boss Jaap Stam to Rotterdam, and he could feature at Ibrox tomorrow night.

Kelly has now revealed that his dad is actually a Celtic fan and will be at Ibrox, meaning there is extra incentive to beat the Gers.

That’s somewhat interesting given that Rangers wanted Kelly in 2016, as most of his family are big Celtic fans, and he still watches Old Firm games with his Bhoys-mad dad, meaning he may well be even more desperate to win than some of his teammates.

“My dad’s parents are from Ireland and I represent the Republic at international level. That side of the family are all big Celtic fans, including my dad Joe,” said Kelly. “My dad was a Chelsea fan as well but Celtic were his Scottish team with the Irish connection and he’s excited about the European game at Ibrox.”

“He is going to Glasgow for the game along with my mum and brother so that should be a good experience for them. Given the fact he’s a Celtic fan he has an extra incentive for his son to beat Rangers. My dad always watched Old Firm games and I would watch with him. Even now, when the Old Firm games are on I always watch them because it’s such an intense fixture and there’s always good quality,” he added.