Celtic Park for Ramsdens final fine by McCoist

RANGERS manager Ally McCoist insists he has no concerns about where the Ramsdens Cup final is played as long as the venue is large enough to accommodate their fans.

Rangers' Arnold Peralta (left) challenges Kevin McKinlay. Picture: SNS

The Light Blues will confront Raith Rovers for the silverware in April, and with Hampden unavailable due to preparations for the Commonwealth Games, Ibrox, Celtic Park and Easter Road have all been mooted as possible alternatives.

McCoist said: “In the build-up to the game, you get asked about where you want the final to be and we didn’t want to jump ahead of ourselves.

“I’ve probably got my own preference where I would like the final to be but I can totally understand why it wouldn’t be there.

“There have been finals before at Hampden, Celtic Park and Ibrox. It’s genuinely not of a great concern to me. What I would like is for as many supporters as possible to get into the stadium.”

Jon Daly grabbed the only goal of the game in a much closer contest than the 8-0 thrashing Rangers handed out to Stenny in the league at Ibrox last month.

McCoist said: “We knew Stenhousemuir would make it very difficult, it’s a semi-final and these guys were playing for a dream final as much as our guys were.

“In that respect, it was as hard as we thought it would be.

“I don’t think in the grand scheme of things that anybody could begrudge us the victory. We hit the crossbar three times and we thought we might have had a penalty.”

Stenhousemuir boss Martyn Corrigan said: “The game plan worked a treat and we created a few opportunities. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t take them.

“The boys were excellent. I was disappointed that a Stenhousemuir player didn’t get man of the match.

“On another day, we might have been in the final. We didn’t perform well at Ibrox and this game shows how far we have come.”

He said: “It means everything to us all to be in the final. It’s part of the process back to where we want to be. We haven’t been in a final for a long, long time. There was certainly nobody within our club who was underestimating how important it was for us to get there.

“It’s a great day out and it gives the players and the staff the opportunity to go to a final. More importantly, it gives the supporters a big day out.”

Rangers defeated Stenhousemuir 8-0 in a Scottish League 1 match at Ibrox last month but made harder work of the cup tie, as Arnold Peralta, Nicky Law and Lee McCulloch were all denied by the woodwork. McCoist added: “It was just as difficult a game as I thought it was going to be. Until you get the first goal you are alway concerned.

“We knew Stenhousemuir would make it very difficult, it’s a semi final and these guys were playing for a dream final as much as our guys were.”

Stenhousemuir boss Martyn Corrigan said: “The gameplan worked a treat and we created a few opportunities. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t take them. The boys were excellent. I was disappointed that a Stenhousemuir player didn’t get man of the match.”