McColl hopes Cup showdown will stoke flames of struggling Lang
CAMBUSLANG Rangers boss Paul McColl hopes a Scottish Cup showdown with Troon will reignite his side’s season.
Lang had shown promise early in the season but have suffered a slump in form, securing just one point from their last seven league starts.
But McColl is hoping for a change in fortune in the Macron Scottish Junior Cup 5th Round.
However, a tough draw has pitted Lang against the Ayrshire men in the only all-Premiership clash of the draw.
The teams last met at the end of October when Troon were 4-2 winners.
“My only wish for the draw was to land a home tie, so I can hardly start moaning now, even if ours is the only all-Premiership clash,” said McColl.
“I’m pretty sure there will be people out there desperate to point out that Troon will hardly be quaking in their boots after deservedly beating us in the recent game at Somervell Park, but there are several factors to be taken into account.
“For starters, we had Jordan McMillan harshly red-carded with less than 10 minutes played and Troon went on to make the most of the extra man and space – nobody more so than the big ex-Hearts striker Christian Nade who scored probably the easiest hat-trick of his career.
“He’ll be their main goals threat in the Cup tie and we’ll also need to keep close tabs on Ryan Stevenson, who has hit the ground running and is averaging a goal per game.
McColl added: “Our own top scorer John Gemmell missed out on the last Troon clash because of prior commitments and having him back will make a massive difference to our approach.
“He’s been scoring for fun this season and hopefully we can add some penalty-box threat before the tie comes around.”
“We face a tough run-in to the New Year with Beith this week followed by games against Glenafton and Auchinleck so I’m looking for the players to turn the clock back to earlier in the season when we were a match for anyone.”
As many as seven Premiership sides are expected to advance into the Macron last eight, along last season’s beaten semi-finalists Lochee United. Also looking likely to book a quarter-final place are Pollok, whose encounter with Rosyth looks a formality.
Lok boss Murdie McKinnon admitted: “I’m not unhappy with the draw but mainly because we have home advantage.
“Rosyth are regarded as one of the minnows but they will get the utmost respect from everyone here at Pollok. That starts this week when we will have someone I trust running the rule over them .
“We will know everything about their shape and players by the time they come down to Newlandsfield.”