KOKI MIZUNO was thrown in at the deep end the last time the Old Firm went head to head but the midfielder will almost certainly watch this weekend's action from the stand.

Mizuno was over-run in the game at Ibrox as Celtic won 1-0 in December and hasn't featured again for the first team since the 2-2 draw with Dundee United which followed it.

It has been a frustrating time for the midfielder who acknowledged after his performance at Ibrox that he still had a distance to go before he could consider himself ready to be a first-team regular, but he would rather be doing his learning on the park rather than on the training ground.

Mizuno wasn't involved in Saturday's Scottish Cup win over Queen's Park and he knows that at a club where competition is part of the deal that there is much he needs to work on.

"It is not just Old Firm games that I want to play in," he said. "I want to play in any game and I was disappointed not to be involved for the game at the weekend against Queen's Park. I want to play football here.

"I did manage to get a run in the team but all of a sudden I have not been involved at all.

"Obviously that means there is something missing from my game and I need to try and find it.

"I know that I don't have a lot of first-team experience but that is something that I am trying to get.

"I know that I still have a lot to learn here, but I want to play.

"All I can do is keep working and keep listening to the advice I get and try to make myself the best player that I can be."

Mizuno, meanwhile, has admitted that he will be more than a little jealous as preparations get under way for Sunday's clash against Walter Smith's men.

The Old Firm games come with an extra frisson of excitement and, regardless of what may or may not happen with regards his future at Celtic, Mizuno is at least glad that he got the chance to experience it first-hand.

"The Old Firm games are completely different to anything else," he said. "Everyone said that to me when I first came here but I found it out for myself too.

"Everybody feels it on the day and in the lead up to it. The atmosphere in the dressing room and club leading up to it was definitely different to any other league game.

"This week's game is one that we have to win and that's what we want. I want that too and I'll be supporting the team, but I'd obviously love to be involved.

"The Old Firm game that I was involved in the last time more or less passed me by.

"It was quite a physical game with a lot of long balls and after it I went away and tried to think about what I could do to have more of an influence."