Pedro’s made up with B&B service

PEDRO CAIXINHA has no fears about pitching defensive duo David Bates and Myles Beerman into Old Firm action on Sunday.

The pair have impressed in outings against Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and Partick Thistle and have helped the Light Blues record a hat-trick of clean sheets.

With captain Lee Wallace ruled out of the Scottish Cup showdown, Beerman could earn another start at left-back, while Bates looks to continue his pairing with Danny Wilson.

And boss Caixinha believes his Auchenhowie graduates can handle the step up as he prepares to face Brendan Rodgers’ side for the first time.

He said: “If they want to become Rangers players they need to adapt to those scenarios.

“They have done well, the team has done well and helped them to be on the same wavelength, so if they need to play or if they need to start that game I have no problems.”

The chances of Bates (inset) being given a derby debut could rest on the fitness of Clint Hill as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.

The 38-year-old has not played since being forced off against Motherwell when Wallace and Lee Hodson were also withdrawn.

Caixinha said: “Clint’s still recovering. We start today preparing for a match on Sunday and if Clint can be with us, perfect, he’s a valuable and experienced player, he’s a warrior and someone who is always looking to help us and always demanding from team-mates. “If he can be with us, perfect.

“If not, others will do their jobs in the same way because this is a collective.” Rangers head to Hampden looking to build on their Premiership wins over the Dons and Thistle. The Light Blues have struggled at both ends of the park this term as they have found the going tough on their return to the top flight.

But Caixinha is pleased with the progress they are making at the back as he attempts to make his defensive unit harder to breach. “We’ve played five matches so far and we only conceded one goal so I think it is really interesting, with four clean sheets overall,” he told RangersTV.

“It’s very important in modern football for you to keep your goal without conceding, so that means that the defensive process or the defensive organisation of the team has been done collectively, but we want more.

“Today we are going to work on some of those aspects, especially how we make the shift across on the wide areas, how to close the wide areas and how to take the time and space from the opponent.

“It’s one point that we will want to really improve, even if in five games we’ve just conceded one goal.”