«COUNTY STRIKER STEWART PLANNING TO PILE ON THE PAIN FOR RANGERS
PINNED TO ROSS COUNTY’S DRESSING-ROOM WALL... ...THE WISE WORDS OF JAMES TAVERNIER
ROSS STEWART admits the fallout from Hamilton Accies’ shock win over Rangers at Ibrox has given Ross County renewed confidence in getting right into the faces of Steven Gerrard’s crumbling outfit from the first whistle and seeing whether they melt under pressure again.
The Staggies suffered a hurtful loss themselves on Wednesday evening when going down 4-1 to Motherwell at Fir Park after taking a third-minute lead through Liam Fontaine.
However, fit-again forward Stewart concedes that hearing about Rangers’ stunning defeat immediately after the final whistle lifted spirits and has fed into the belief they can rediscover their aggression and use the tight surroundings of the Global Energy Stadium this Sunday to give the embattled Gerrard and his failing players another hugely uncomfortable 90 minutes.
Ibrox captain James Tavernier raised eyebrows in the match programme ahead of that loss to Hamilton when stating that his side are not good enough domestically to react to teams getting after them — and he’d better believe that is exactly what is going to happen in Dingwall.
‘I think we have got to get back to what we were doing in the games before Motherwell,’ said Stewart.
‘We have to try to make it a battle, press them high, get in their face and really make it difficult.
‘Even with the run that Rangers are on, we know they are a really good team, so it is going to be difficult and they will have chances.
‘At the same time, though, we have got to look at how we can hurt them. Results haven’t been going how they have wanted and we’ve got to put pressure on them and see how they cope.
‘Setting the tone early is a common phrase in football and that is something we have got to look to do.
‘We need to try and get the crowd on our side as well and get an atmosphere in the ground that the players can buzz off.
‘Hopefully, by doing most of those things, we can come away with a result.
‘It (seeing Hamilton win) definitely gives you a lot of belief that you can get something from the game.
‘Being at home, we would back ourselves to go in and get something.
‘We’ll put a plan in place so that, come Sunday, we’ll know what we are doing.
‘Starting the match at the right tempo is going to go a long way in the game, I think.’
Tavernier’s shocking admissions in the official match magazine at Rangers have just fed into the growing theory that this is a collection of players who have simply become unable to handle the heat domestically since returning from their winter break in Dubai. ‘Whenever anybody puts a bit of pressure on us in Scotland or gets in our face, it seems to affect us too much,’ wrote Tavernier. ‘At the start of the season, teams dropped off us and we were scoring four or five goals, but, now, they smell blood straight away and put us under pressure. ‘We are not good enough domestically at the minute to react to that.’ Stewart certainly has made it clear that the Rangers skipper and his team-mates had better get ready to go head-to-head with a team on a war footing thanks to the cut-throat nature of the fight for survival at the bottom end of the table. County are now just five points clear of second-bottom Accies and are under no illusions about the importance of getting points on the board quickly. ‘It is obviously getting tighter with the results elsewhere in midweek and we need to look to go into Sunday’s game and get as many points as we can,’ stated Stewart, who returned from two months out with hamstring complications as a second-half substitute at Fir Park. ‘It is going to be a dogfight at the bottom of the table and everyone can beat everyone in this league. It is tough home and away. ‘Hamilton got a great win. Any team down there is looking to do the same and we are no different. We have to try to get as far away from the bottom two as we can.’