Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CUP AND SORCERER
Gerrard out to weave his magic for dream double
STEVEN GERRARD last night insisted he will never disrespect the Scottish Cup as he chases a cross-border double.
The Rangers boss won the FA Cup twice as a player with Liverpool and would love to add to his silverware collection this season at
Hampden.
The Ibrox club travel to
Hamilton Accies at lunchtime in the last 16 today and Gerrard revealed he’s going full strength and full out to win the competition.
Critics claim the FA Cup is in danger of becoming devalued as top Premier League clubs increasingly play weakened sides, but Gerrard (inset) would never disrespect Accies or the tournament by following suit.
He said: “This tournament has a prestige for me. I would love nothing better than to win this competition.
“Also, as long as I am breathing you will never see me disrespect the FA Cup in England because I have had some incredible memories.
“I would like to add to that as a coach up here, so you won’t see me disrespecting any tournament. “Everyone is under different pressures and they try and prioritise different competitions, but here we prioritise every single game.we showed that with the selections we picked all the way to the final of the League Cup and we will continue to do the same. “We picked a strong team against Stranraer in the last round to get this opportunity so we will continue to pick strong teams capable of getting the right results to go on a long run. “We had people paying good money to come and fill the stadium against Stranraer and we will take a large chunk of the ground at Hamilton. We need to respect that, as well as the fact we will have fans around the world watching.”