It's Up To Us

[ian1964 10,459]

By Andrew Dickson

 

WALTER SMITH insists there's no advantage to be gained by Rangers if they win a day before Celtic play this weekend.

 

The Light Blues entertain Hibernian at Ibrox tomorrow before Gordon Strachan's Parkhead side travels to play Falkirk at Westfield on Sunday.

 

Walter SmithIt will be the fourth successive weekend that Gers have played before their Old Firm rivals and the two will then meet in the derby next Saturday in Govan.

 

The gap between the teams at the top of the SPL currently stands at four points with 18 rounds of fixtures gone and the halfway point in the season approaching.

 

But while some feel Rangers can strike a psychological blow to their fellow challengers by bringing the gap down to one - however temporarily - Smith isn't one of them.

 

"I don't think playing before Celtic really matters," he said. "We operate under that sort of pressure every single week.

 

"We just have to keep winning our games and the most important thing when we play Hibs tomorrow is that we get the victory.

 

"We will see what happens after that. None of these things are that important - the pressure is simply on whoever is chasing and that is us at the moment.

 

"We must accept that and know, going into each game, that our main objective is to win the match. The onus is on us to come out on top.Walter Smith in Kaunas

 

"If we win our next two games, we will be in a far better position than we're in at the moment but we know doing that will be tough."

 

Smith refused to be drawn on speculation linking Rangers with a move Spartak Moscow defender Martin Stranzl.

 

There have been media reports saying the manager is keen on the Austrian stopper but he refused to confirm if that was the case.

 

Smith did reveal Madjid Bougherra, who he hoped would be fit enough to play this weekend, is still doubtful for tomorrow's game with a thigh knock despite training today.

 

If he misses out, he'll be one of five first-team players sidelined for the clash with the Easter Road outfit.

 

Chris Burke has fallen victim to the flu outbreak currently sweeping across Scotland and is too unwell to be considered.

 

Maurice Edu and Andrius Velicka are also unavailable as they both have ankle knocks. Long-term crock Kevin Thomson is the other casualty.

[calscot 0]

Chris Burke ill? Surely not? He must be the most fragile guy in Scotland... or is he just the most unlucky?