Later, when Kris Boyd clattered Danny Fox and the Celtic full-back lay pranged on the deck, the same support chanted his name; if you can’t score in an Old Firm game, then a good old-fashioned clatter goes down just as well.

Boyd was swept into yesterday’s Old Firm game in a sea of indulgence. His 160th SPL goal that set a new Scottish record was held in considerable esteem last week and the stage was apparently set for him to maintain his recent swashbuckling form against Celtic.

In a rampant December, Boyd scored 11 of Rangers’ 26 goals, yet doubts over the quality of the striker linger like stale cigar smoke. The fact that he started against Celtic yesterday was something of an indication that he has gained the trust of a manager who has up until recently appeared to be not quite sold on the qualities of the player. Since upon his return to Rangers three years ago, Smith had never started the striker at Celtic Park. There would have been an outcry if Boyd’s was not the first name on his teamsheet yesterday.

Yet, his record in the Champions League and against the ‘big teams’ is the one that is repeatedly brought to the fore and the bottom line is that without Kenny Miller he had little chance of addressing that yesterday afternoon.

While the arguments have raged in the radio phone-ins and the pages of the newspapers these past few days about Boyd v Larsson, the stats tell their own story. The Swede’s first five Old Firm games were barren. After that he netted 15 in a total of 30 appearances against the Ibrox side. Kyle Lafferty was initially deployed in an advanced position to try and link up with Boyd, but between them the duo had little joy before Lafferty shuffled back a bit after Nacho Novo went off injured. In actual fact, though, Lafferty should have shuffled his way up the tunnel when he aimed a nasty, high boot at Andreas Hinkel and was fortunate to remain on the park.

Lafferty, so tall and gangly he looks like he has been stretched on the rack, is no Miller. And if yesterday’s game showed anything, it is just how influential the former Celtic striker has been in Boyd’s, and Rangers’, recent purple patch.

With no Miller, there was no-one scampering down the channels and getting balls in behind the Celtic defence. There was no-one with pace to show up the frailties in the Celtic full-backs and no-one to send in the kind of bouncing, bobbling balls to Boyd’s feet in the six-yard box for him to latch on to.

Instead, with Gary Caldwell stalking his every move, Boyd found the going tough as he had to live on any speculative high punt in his direction. And aside from the fact that those were gobbled up by Caldwell, Celtic’s sheer commitment to attack meant that for large periods, especially in the opening half, Boyd was camped inside his own half, getting involved in the play only when he was helping to stem the tide.

As Tony Mowbray’s side dominated the opening period in a way that is rarely seen in Old Firm games, Boyd had to settle for sporadic glimpses of the ball. And it rarely stuck. Glenn Loovens, upon whose shoulders rests much of the blame for the first Old Firm defeat of the season when he was utterly spooked by Miller’s pace, was there to mop up anything that Caldwell missed.

For the most part Boyd cut a frustrated figure, hands in the air every time Caldwell breathed down his neck, and while he is well used to exorcising that kind of irritation on opposing defences, he has a block when it comes to Celtic. The only time he saw the whites of Artur Boruc’s eyes was when he lobbed the ball in the keeper’s direction in keeping with the spirit of fair play after Celtic had put the ball out to allow an injured Novo to be carried off the field of play.

It says something that the three chances Rangers had in the entire game – a deflected Lafferty attempt that went wide, a Sasa Papac shot-come-cross that was tipped over the bar and Lee McCulloch’s header that pegged Celtic back – all came without any involvement from Boyd.

Having already seen off Larsson’s record going into the game, he will feel that he has more than answered his critics. On yesterday’s evidence he may still have much to prove.