Rangers head into quarter-finals but injury fears cloud Forfar rout

Published on Wednesday 18 February 2009 23:30

RANGERS will this morning count the cost of their progress to the quarter-finals of the Homecoming Scottish Cup when the full extent of injuries suffered by DaMarcus Beasley and Lee McCulloch in last night's 4-0 fifth-round win at Forfar Athletic are assessed.

American winger Beasley left Station Park with a wound to his left shin inflicted by a poor challenge from Forfar defender Elliot Smith, while midfielder McCulloch limped out of the tie with a calf muscle strain.

Smith's late lunge on Beasley, which earned the full-back a straight red card with 20 minutes of the match remaining, provoked an angry reaction from the Rangers players.

"DaMarcus has got nasty stud marks on his left shin," said Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist. "We'll have a look at it in the morning and see how bad it is. As soon as the lad made the challenge, I thought it was crude to say the least. But there's no lingering anger from us, because it wasn't that type of game.

"We are not sure what big Lee's problem is. He felt something go at the top of his calf and again we will look at it tomorrow. Hopefully it is not too serious."

McCoist was simply relieved to head back to Glasgow having secured a home quarter-final tie against Hamilton Accies on 7 March following a far from memorable display by the trophy holders.

They made hard work of seeing off their Third Division opponents and McCoist admitted to being especially frustrated with their first-half performance. "It was comfortable in the end," he said, "but one or two things helped us. The sending off was one of them, and we were also a bit more direct in the second half.

"We got stick after the Old Firm game on Sunday for not playing any football, but if anything we overplayed a little bit tonight. People were taking too many touches in the first half and I wanted us to use the ball quicker from central midfield.

"We don't get any credit for coming up here and winning, because that's the least that was expected of us. We were looking for the lads to do a professional job and we scored some good goals in the end."

Kenny Miller's second-half double took his tally for the season to nine goals, but they were his first since 6 December last year. The Scotland striker was satisfied to have ended a ten-match barren spell. "I've had a problem with a hamstring injury for a while," he said, "but I've been playing through it and it is getting better. I was left out for the last couple of games and I hadn't been playing as well as I would want to. Hopefully tonight can set me off on a good run again."

Forfar manager Dick Campbell felt the final scoreline was a little harsh on his players but had no real complaints at the outcome. "I was disappointed to lose the first goal in the opening ten minutes, which was avoidable," said Campbell. "It's a pity it finished 4-0, because I've got a few sad heads in that dressing room who think they let themselves down. I don't think they did, but I've no axe to grind with the result."

• MATCH REPORT: Miller grabs brace as Rangers ease through