STEVEN Gerrard was so hyped up for the last north-west derby of his Liverpool career that he was like an incendiary device waiting to go off.

He found out on the Thursday prior to Liverpool’s meeting with Manchester United at Old Trafford in March 2015 that Brendan

Rodgers would not be starting him. He was not so much simmering as boiling and when he was introduced at half time all hell broke loose.

He battered into Juan Mata and then seemed to stamp on Ander Herrera within 40 seconds of the second-half starting and Martin Atkinson sent him off.

In all he was sent off eight times in his career – twice against United and twice against Merseyside rivals Everton.

It is apparent that his passion ran high in derby matches so he is all too aware that some of his players will have a similar mindset today when he goes head to head with Rodgers for the first time.

The world is watching and eager to find out if Gerrard’s ever-improving Rangers can pose a threat to the double Treble winners.

Gerrard said: “Four red cards in derbies? There’s a theme there, isn’t there? That Man United one is

unexplainable. I was only on for about 43 seconds. I think that sending off had been coming since the Thursday, to be honest! Ever since I found out I wasn’t going to start.

“I was a player who played on emotion and that’s when I felt my best performances came, all the performances that people speak about. But sometimes I got the balance wrong but I am human and my players are human and they will get it wrong sometimes. I can accept that.

“What we can’t accept is it happening a lot. Because then the players in the dressing room think we can’t have this all the time, the job is difficult enough and they start getting frustrated as well as the manager.

“I think we need to try to help the players to get the balance right.

“This is a game that is magnified more than any other game up here and for me it is important to let the players know that they have to get the balance right between playing on the edge and trying to find the top performance inside and making sure that it doesn’t spill over.

“But we have been trying to do that since the first game of the season and some of my players have got it wrong.

“Sunday is more important than normal because it is a tough test and a big challenge against a good team and the job is difficult enough with 11 men so it is very important that we try to get the balance right this weekend.

“At the same time, we are desperate for a result. We want to win and put a good show on and try to show people that we are a better team than the previous results against Celtic.”

Gerrard knows Rangers crumbled woefully in the last two meetings with Celtic last season – losing 4-0 and 5-0 – and he is calling for big hearts at Parkhead.

He said: “You have got to be brave on the ball away from home. We will have limited fans there and it will be hostile. I have experienced the atmosphere there before. I trust the players to handle the ball in difficult situations. It is a big part of a derby match. You have to be comfortable in possession when the press is coming.”

Rangers are on the worst run in their history against their great rivals having failed to win in 11 meetings, but Gerrard can call on men who have actually won an Old Firm game like Allan McGregor, Kyle Lafferty, James Tavernier and maybe even Lee Wallace.

Midfield star Ryan Jack believes Rangers are a different prospect to the soft touch of last season.

“I think the whole mentality is different now,” he said. “We are going into the game on a good bit of confidence after Europe.

“There’s a lot of good stuff going on at the club at the minute. The staff have brought fresh ideas, the players have got a real buzz, the fans are buzzing.

“We are confident going into Sunday and hopefully get the right result.

“We’re not here to make up the numbers, we’re here to actually compete and challenge for cups.

“We wanted get to the group stage of the Europa League. We’ve done that and now it’s a challenge to show what we can do on that stage.

“In the league campaign we want to do as well as we can. On Sunday we want to show everyone the real us.”

Gerrard added: “My job initially is to try to close the gap and make this team competitive – not just with Celtic but also with the other top teams in the league and try to make these fans happy again.

“I thought Thursday night was big for confidence because it’s the first thing we have achieved as a team. We showed we have belief and we trust one another and we became one on that night.

“This is another hurdle. Sunday is a fantastic opportunity for my players to go and show people that we are a different Rangers team, we are for real and we want to be there when the big prizes are given out.”