Gerrard insists Rangers are raring to go Goodwin misses toast to new deal as Anderson strike seals precious point
Ibrox boss says players will ‘manage’ following distractions surrounding Covid restrictions breach
THERE would have been no good time for five members of the Rangers squad to break Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, get fined by Police Scotland for their incomprehensible stupidity and be forced to go into quarantine. But Calvin Bassey, Nathan Patterson, Brian Kinnear, Dapo Mebude and Bongani Zungu certainly chose their moment.
Getting through to the knockout rounds of the Europa League for the second season running last year was a great achievement by the Ibrox club and the games against Royal Antwerp, while difficult, offer them a real chance to progress further.
Steven Gerrard should have spent the last few days working with his players on the training field in Milngavie, preparing for the first leg in the Bosuilstadion this evening and simply savouring the whole experience.
He has certainly done so. But he has been dragged into other far less enjoyable matters in the aftermath of the illegal gathering that Bassey, Patterson, Kinnear, Mebude and Zungu, in their wisdom, attended in Hyndland in Glasgow on Saturday night.
Gerrard, who had addressed the matter on Rangers’ official television channel earlier, preferred to focus on the encounter in Flanders at his pre-match press conference last night. However, he did admit the unwelcome upheaval had come at a bad juncture. “It’s not ideal, that’s for sure,” he said.
Left-back Bassey, right back Patterson and central midfielder Zungu would only have been on the bench tonight if they had been available. However, they have all featured for Rangers in Europe this term and could have been involved at some stage. Indeed, Bassey played in the second-half of the 2-0 win over Standard Liege on their last trip to Belgium back in October.
Gerrard, though, was adamant the runaway Premiership leaders will be unaffected by the controversy. He has been impressed with his charges’ hunger and sharpness in their sessions this week. He is, too, confident he has enough strength and depth to deal with the losses.
“We’ve had no disruption on the inside this week in terms of our preparation on the training pitch,” he said. “We’ve still had quality and numbers. The boys look really in the zone and focused, ready to put in a performance on Thursday night.
“Now, I can only gauge the mood and where I think they’re at. I’m really content with how we are going into the game. I can see a twinkle in the boys’ eyes, they are really ready to go. If training is anything to go by, we are about to put in a performance.
“We are fine, we will manage. What we have got is players with us at the moment who have got no ego. They will, if needed, sacrifice themselves to do a job for the team and the group. We will manage, we will cope and we will go from there.”
One of those who has caught the attention of the
Alfredo is really champing at the bit to come back
former Liverpool and England midfielder this week is Alfredo Morelos. The striker has just served a three match suspension and his manager has been struck by his eagerness to get back involved. Having Rangers all-time record European goalscorer in that kind of mood can only be a positive.
“Alfredo is really champing at the bit to come back,” said
St Mirren Hamilton Accies PREMIERSHIP 1 1
LIKE a good compromise, this was an outcome that wouldn’t have fully satisfied either side. The draw lifts St Mirren above Dundee United and back into the top half of the table but, having moved in front early in the second half through Ilkay Durmus, this will feel like two points dropped at home.
Hamilton, in turn, moved level on points with Kilmarnock in 10th place after extending their mini-revival to three matches. After drawing level through Bruce Anderson’s deflected drive, the visitors could have gone on to make it two wins in a row but couldn’t produce a second goal.
St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin had hoped to mark his recent contract extension with a victory but was gracious enough to admit a draw was probably fair.
“In the second-half we didn’t pass the ball as well,” he said. “We got sloppy in possession. Hamilton were slightly on top after the equaliser and we’d have been sickened if we’d not taken anything from the game. But the point puts us back into the top-six which is where we want to be. We’re in the driver’s seat with a fantastic opportunity and hopefully we can put on a better performance against Livingston.”
Rice praised Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes for allowing Anderson the chance to come to Hamilton and play regular football.
“I’m very grateful to Aberdeen and I’ve thanked Derek,” he said. “He’s come here and found a nice partnership. He’s 22 and wants to play regularly and he’s enjoying his football.”
Richard Tait came closest to scoring in a first half that was full-blooded and didn’t stint in entertainment value either, but saw his turn and shot strike the post.
St Mirren went in front soon after the restart on 53 minutes. Kyle McAllister threaded a pass along the edge of the penalty box for Durmus whose driven effort had too much power and accuracy for Fulton.
That seemed to give St Mirren a platform to go on and build an advantage but instead a passage of sloppy play proved costly as Accies turned the screw and found an equaliser.
There was a dose of good fortune about it with Anderson’s shot deflecting off Joe Shaughnessy on its way in, but it was still merited for the way the visitors had continued to plug away after falling behind.
It could have been even worse for St Mirren not long after had goalkeeper Jak Alnwick not made a terrific stop from a Marios Ogkmpoe effort after Accies had sprung quickly on the counter attack.
“It was a good honest battle with two honest teams fighting for the win so nobody can complain,” added Rice.