The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lessons learned as Gers keep ticking over with Linfield visit
Mark Warburton reckons Rangers’ friendly with Linfield will help prevent his side from being caught cold in the heat of Old Firm battle.
Gers will travel across the Irish Sea to take on the Belfast side on Saturday for Linfield midfielder Jamie Mulgrew’s testimonial.
The clash will give Englishman Warburton his final chance to fine-tune Gers ahead of the showdown at Celtic Park and Warburton believes the match will be vital as he looks to ensure they do not cease up against their title rivals following a 15-day break between Ladbrokes Premiership fixtures.
After completing their league schedule last term, Rangers found themselves sitting idle for three weeks ahead of the William Hill Scottish Cup and the long lay-off proved costly as a Hibs side forced to scrap on through the play-offs snatched the trophy with a 3-2 triumph.
Now the Ibrox manager is keen to avoid a repeat ahead of the first derby clash of the campaign.
He told RangersTV: “It’s important for us.
“We are conscious that we played Kilmarnock on Friday night and the next game is the Old Firm on September 10. That is too long a gap, we learned that from the (Scottish) Cup final.
“So the Linfield game is good for us, the relationship between the clubs is very evident, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Warburton has promised to take David Healy’s side seriously as he looks to sharpen his own players’ focus on the task ahead.
He continued: “For us very much so, we need to keep the squad ticking over. Training is good but nothing replicates a game.
“So it’s important that we use the game very wisely, we respect the opposition of course as always, but make sure we maximise the game.”