The Swansea City striker puts the difference down to the fact that with the Old Firm affair the two sets of supporters both come from the same city whereas with the South Wales derby the two sets of fans are seperated by 35 miles.
The Swans and Cardiff go head to head at lunchtime at the Liberty today and Beattie will take his place in the Swans team as the club’s record signing and looking for his first Liberty goal after strikes at Ipswich, West Brom and Scunthorpe in recent weeks.
Speaking to the Western Mail, Beattie said “The Old Firm derby isn’t exactly a small affair
“It’s right up there to be fair.
“But the difference from Rangers against Celtic is that everyone in Swansea follows Swansea while everyone in Cardiff follows Cardiff. In Glasgow the city is split so the fans still tend to live and mix with each other all the time.
“In Wales everyone is separated so, when they do come together, it’s fierce.
“The intensity of the rivalry down here didn’t surprise me because I know what football fans are like. And, without being disrespectful to anyone, there are really only two big football clubs in Wales so I knew it would be very passionate.
“I’ve got three goals in the last four games and I feel confident
“I like to think I can affect a game every time I play.
“I’ve been getting a good supply from the boys and it’s up to me to put the finishing touches on it. In the last few games they have been flying in and I’ve had a good little run, but it’s up to me to maintain it.
“I still think there is more to come from me. I’m not going to stop after three goals.
“How much and what is to come, only time will tell. But we are on a good run, the team is confident, we are defending well and I’m scoring so we are pushing on together and it’s in the right direction.
“It takes time for any team to gel. The fact we have done it after five games and gone on a good run, is something we have to be happy with.
“I’m enjoying everything down here at the moment. Hopefully three points at the weekend will just add something special.
“I know it’s a big game and it’s one we are all relishing. We are all looking forward to it.
“Both teams are doing well. We’ll see after the game how we match up – it could go either way. All I know is that we are playing well and we are on a good run. Cardiff are right up there too so it is two quality teams playing each other.”