Ally McCoist insists main incentive was to reward Rangers fans

RANGERS manager Ally McCoist was adamant the opportunity to deny Celtic a Clydesdale Bank Premier League title party at Ibrox was not the motivation behind his team’s 3-2 win in yesterday’s Old Firm derby.

Victory would have allowed Celtic to clinch the trophy at the home of their greatest rivals – the first time such a scenario would have taken place since Rangers won the championship in an ill-tempered match at Parkhead in 1999.

McCoist said: “I know you won’t believe me but I didn’t want to win the game to stop Celtic winning the title.

“I’m not interested in that to be honest with you. I wanted to win the game because we were playing our biggest rivals in one of the biggest fixtures of the season. There was no more pressure, no more desire.

“I’ve been really fortunate to have been involved in so many Old Firm games and it would be wrong of me to tell you that I wanted to win one more than another because that’s not the case. I’ve wanted to win every one as much as the previous one and the next one.”

According to McCoist, if there was any extra motivation to win this game, it was the chance to reward supporters for the way they have rallied around since the club was plunged into administration on 14 February.

He added: “That’s what we wanted more than anything.

“In the current times, when we are having a struggle with one thing and another, we all feel that our support has been absolutely magnificent in their support of the club and the team in what is a traumatic and very difficult time.

“We really, really wanted to win that game for the support today. Also for the players as individuals and as a team, but we wanted to win for the supporters.”