FIGHT TO THE FINISH
Nicholl urges Rangers to regain pride by grabbing second place
JIMMY NICHOLL last night urged Rangers to restore some pride to a woeful season by snatching second place in the SPFL Premiership.
The interim boss praised the courage and determination of his side as they came from behind to prevent Aberdeen boosting their bid to secure runners-up spot for a fourth successive year in a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie.
Criticising referee Steven McLean for the dubious 13th-minute penalty scored by Dons
midfielder Kenny McLean, Nicholl called on an under-fire Ibrox side to salvage something from a wretched campaign by edging Aberdeen and Hibs to second in Sunday’s dramatic climax.
‘They had to at least restore a wee bit of pride and I thought they did that in their approach at the start of the game and definitely in the second half,’ said Nicholl. ‘They need to do it again on Sunday.’
Rangers play Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday and need to better Aberdeen’s result against Celtic at Parkhead to overtake the Dons and claim second place.
Neil Lennon’s side will also be part of a three-way battle for second if they take at least a point from Hearts in tonight’s Edinburgh derby.
Asked if second would be an achievement for Rangers after a season of turmoil on and off the pitch, Nicholl said: ‘Exactly, with what goes on behind the scenes. People look at Rangers as a football club and turn around and say: “What if they’re second. What sort of achievement is that?”
‘But that is a massive achievement. A lot of the credit goes to Graeme Murty for the position he got them into.
‘I hate saying it’s a massive achievement because people say: “What? Finishing second?”.
‘But it is. Celtic are way up there at this moment in time, so you have to be the best of the rest if you possibly can. It would eat away at me and it would hurt if it didn’t happen.’
Rangers will face Hibs without Graham Dorrans after he limped off with ligament damage after 31 minutes.
Goalscorer McCrorie and Alfredo Morelos are also suspended for the final match of the league season.
Unhappy with the penalty given against Morelos for a clash with McLean, Nicholl added: ‘Character and desire are the words. That is what you are looking for in players all the time.
‘We controlled the game. Then there was the penalty kick. It’s all right us seeing it at the side and knowing it wasn’t a penalty. I’m frustrated at the side.
‘But they haven’t seen it. They had to get on with it, but they didn’t. They got frustrated with the decision and lost their way. ‘That was the annoying thing. ‘We had to get them in at halftime and get the football head back on again.
‘If you get frustrated with refereeing decisions, you lose concentration and you don’t do your jobs properly.
‘Forget about what happened and do what you did in that first 15 minutes. They did that and it was a great 45 minutes.
‘There was a determination, solid at the back, breaking from the middle of the park. It was a good goal from Ross McCrorie, a determined young player who went at the ball with conviction.
‘It got us into the game at 1-1 and I thought we dominated the second half.’
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes praised his side’s high-tempo first-half display, admitting they ran out of steam in the last 20 minutes.
‘It would be hard for me to say Rangers didn’t deserve a point,’ said McInnes. ‘The performance was good and the form has been decent going into the split.
‘We had to show we could lay a glove on Rangers and we did that for long spells.
‘We’re going to have to bring a level of performance against Celtic to have a chance to finish second. But that’s 70 points for the fourth year in a row.
‘We couldn’t have been any better in the first half.
‘We were full of confidence and attitude.
‘(With) the combination of Kenny feeling his calf and Dominic Ball not having many games, we got that bit deeper after (Sean) Goss came on and it was a good decision by Jimmy to put (Jamie) Murphy at No 10.
‘It helped change the game. Rangers had the better players in the last 20 minutes. They stepped up and we ran out of steam a bit. But I am absolutely delighted with the performance of my team tonight, especially in the first half.
‘We deservedly got our goal, which is a penalty. No matter what anybody says, it’s a penalty kick.’