Rangers focused on rising to Inverness test

FOR a club instinctively imbued with a sense they belong at the summit of Scottish football, matches against top-flight opposition have been largely painful experiences for Rangers since their financial collapse three seasons ago.

David Templeton, left, and Nicky Clark limber up in training in preparation for tonights League Cup clash. Picture: SNS

As a fourth-tier club in 2012-13, they defeated Motherwell 2-0 in the third round of the League Cup but were subsequently humbled 3-0 at Ibrox in the quarter-finals of the tournament by Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The Scottish Cup brought further comprehensive defeat that season when Rangers lost 3-0 to Dundee United at Tannadice in the fifth round.

Last season, Ally McCoist’s League 1 side met Premiership opponents just once, losing to United again, this time 3-1 at Ibrox in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

So as they welcome Inverness to Govan for tonight’s League Cup second round tie, Rangers are naturally keen to improve that record ahead of what they hope will be their return to the top flight next summer.

For McCoist, cup success remains a secondary objective behind his priority of winning the Championship this season. But he admits there has been an extra edge to his players’ approach to their meeting with an Inverness side which topped the Premiership until their 3-1 defeat at Partick Thistle on Saturday.

“I do sense an increased anticipation among the players,” said McCoist. “Their training last week was fantastic, they’ve been electric and I thought that showed in our league win at Raith Rovers on Friday night.

“They are now looking forward to playing a very good team from a division about them. They want to prove their worth against a top-flight team because the majority of our players have played there previously.

“Whether it’s Lee Wallace, Ian Black, Jon Daly or whoever else in our squad, they certainly don’t feel in any way that they can’t compete at that level. They feel that’s where they should be competing now, so that’s why they are looking forward to it.

“As far as being a barometer of where we are as a team right now, it is and it isn’t. I stand by what I’ve said before – anyone can win a cup tie at any given time. Just look at Morton winning at Celtic Park last season.

“But I do take the point that it’s a big game for us, a game against an Inverness team which, before Saturday, were the in-form side in the country. They were top of the table, deservedly so and they hadn’t lost a goal.

“So it gives us an idea or where we are in a one-off game against a good top flight team. Last season, we competed well against Dundee United in the Scottish Cup semi-final but lost the game.

“The previous year, we had a fantastic performance against Motherwell and then Inverness comfortably beat us in the League Cup. That 3-0 defeat still stings, they all do. It goes with the territory here.

“For us, getting back to the top flight is 100 per cent the priority, so this tie is not that important in the grander scheme of things. But of course we want to win it and of course we would all love a good cup run.”

McCoist was at Firhill to watch Inverness on Saturday but is not reading great significance into a first defeat of the campaign for John Hughes’ men.

“Thistle deserved to win, although when Inverness took the lead I thought they would kick on from there,” he said. “John has got them playing some good stuff and they have a real physicality about them too.

“I don’t think them losing the game will make any difference to our tie against them. To be honest, I’d have preferred them to have won. But it doesn’t change anything for me that it was their first defeat and the first goals they had lost.

“The way John was talking afterwards, it was uncharacteristic defending on their part and I’m not reading too much into it.”

McCoist is encouraged by his own team’s form with Friday’s 4-0 win in Kirkcaldy leaving them with a tally of 27 goals from eight matches in all competitions so far this season. Kris Boyd has scored five of them, but all in the cups as he still awaits his first league goal of his second spell with the club after missing a hatful of chances against Raith.

“It was just one of those nights for Kris and it would be totally wrong to focus on that when I’m told we have scored more goals than any other team in the country so far this season,” said McCoist.

“There’s nothing surer than Kris getting on the end of something on Tuesday night and being there to take a chance.

“He needs to keep getting into the box, doing the right thing and that’s what Kris does. So it’s not a concern. He’s scored five goals in the cups, it’s not as if he doesn’t look like he’s going to score.

“He still helped the team on Friday and as pleasing for me as the performance was the clean sheet we kept. We were more aggressive defensively, particularly the two centre-backs, and a lot more solid as a back four overall. That had a big bearing on our level of performance as a team.”

McCoist is especially pleased with the form of midfielders Nicky Law and Black who were both subjected to criticism during Rangers’ unconvincing opening to this season.

“Whether you are a player, coach or manager here, the one thing you are guaranteed is criticism,” added McCoist. “It’s how you react to it and handle it that matters and I’ve been delighted with the reaction from Nicky and Ian. They’ve been great.”

Rangers will again be without Kenny Miller tonight, although the veteran former Scotland striker’s calf injury is not as serious as initially feared.

“He’s walking freely and a scan showed it’s just a first degree tear,” said McCoist. “So without putting an exact timescale on it, he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”