Nicky Clark: Rangers good enough to win the lot

Nicky Clark in action for Rangers against East Fife. Picture: SNS

Under Ally McCoist the club had secured back-to-back title wins as they edge closer to regaining Premiership status but they have fallen short in the knock-out competitions. This year they are hoping to rectify that by delivering cup success as well as the Championship title.

Victory over East Fife on Tuesday night took them into the semi-finals of the Petrofac Training Cup, where they will now have to overcome Alloa, and they will host St Johnstone in the quarter-finals of the League Cup next Tuesday. They also have the Scottish Cup tournament to look forward to and want to make it three in a row by adding the Championship title to the two lower league flags they have unfurled in the past two seasons.

With such a busy fixture list Clark says it is just as well that there are so many players vying for a place in the starting line-up.

Having been dropped from the side which went on to defeat Raith Rovers 6-1 in the league on Saturday, the striker was given the nod to partner Jon Daly at Methil during the week as the manager shook things up, and still steered the side through the tie, despite leaving two international strikers on the bench.

Over the course of the campaign and with battles to fight on so many fronts, Clark says there is no doubting that strength in depth will benefit the Ibrox club.

“I think it was an advantage right from the start of the season. You saw that there with me and Jon starting and Kenny [Miller] and Kris [Boyd] coming off the bench. Wee Temps [David Templeton] has been on the bench as well so we have a lot of talented players in the squad, but we need that because it’s a long season and we need to keep working hard and win those games. At a club like Rangers you need a big squad and we were able to bring in players over the summer, so I think that is an advantage to us.”

It does make it tough to hold down a place in the team, though, and while Daly has notched three goals in his last two appearances, Clark says the team is more important than individual plaudits or goal tallies.

“It would obviously have been great to go and score a few goals but East Fife made it hard for us to break them down.

“Personally, it would have been great to score a couple but it wasn’t to be. The most important thing was to get through. There’s a few big games coming up and we just have to take each game as it comes.

“We’ve earned ourselves another game by winning and it was good to get 75 minutes as well. Hopefully, I have done enough to get another game. But I’ve said it a few times now, we have loads and loads of good players at the club who have international caps and you have to expect boys like that to come in and play.”

Clark has featured in many of Rangers’ games thus far and his manager conceded that the striker was unfortunate to be left on the bench on Saturday. But Clark said it was an even greater incentive to keep his level of performance high and said it was the same for his team-mates.

“You have just got to get your head down and keep working hard and hope your chance comes. I’ve been happy with the way I’ve been playing. We’ve had a few good results too. I’m not really disappointed and that’s just football for you.”

But he believes that there will be a role for everyone and that the depth of the squad will help when injuries and suspensions start becoming an issue for other sides, adding that competition for places can only be a positive for Rangers as they challenge for silverware and attempt to reel in Championship leaders, Hearts.

“We need to keep our heads down and keep playing and make sure we win all the games that are coming up.

“I’m sure Hearts and us will stumble somewhere along the way, so it’s down to ourselves to make sure that we manage to win our games.”