Celtic manager Neil Lennon admits an empty Ibrox will be "excruciating" for Saturday's showdown.
The Premiership champions travel to face Rangers for the second derby of the season but, as with the first, there will be no fans allowed in the ground.
Under normal circumstances Celtic would be facing a hostile atmosphere but their manager insists he'd prefer to be walking into a cauldron.
Lennon admitted: "It is excruciating.
"Let's get it right.
"It is what it is, you have to get on with it but it's not the same."
With Rangers 16 points clear - albeit having played three games more - the match has the flavour of a must-win for the visitors.
But Lennon insists the second Old Firm game of the season is instead a must not lose.
He explained: "You don't want to lose it, you want to get a positive result, either three points or a point.
"We are not even contemplating losing the game, we are going there with a positive frame of mind and we have to play, and we have to play a lot better than we did here in October.
"We have Christie, Edouard, Griffiths, Turnbull, Soro, they are all available to play so hopefully that will give us a real spark going into this game.
"We are playing well, everybody is fit, available and there is good competition for places.
"We are creating a lot of chances which we hadn't been doing in that (poor) spell and we have been looking a lot more assured at the back, so the players have found their rhythm.
"I wouldn't say I am relaxed about it, you never are going into a game like this but we are looking forward to it."
