County set to inflect a few headaches on Ibrox side

LIAM BOYCE, the Ross County striker, believes Rangers will be all the more dangerous at Ibrox today following Wednesday night’s shock mauling by Hearts.

The 25-year-old from Belfast, currently joint top Premiership goalscorer alongside Celtic’s Scott Sinclair on 13 league goals, is quietly confident the Dingwall team can pose their hosts further defensive headaches.

But the Northern Ireland international fully expects a reaction from Mark Warburton’s wounded team following the 4-1 midweek thrashing.

County are similarly in need of a pick-me-up result in Govan following two consecutive defeats in the league since the winter break.

“There probably is more pressure on Rangers after the Hearts defeat but there’s always pressure on the Old Firm,” Boyce said. “Obviously I watched the Hearts game the other night and it was a tough defeat for them. I think people were expecting Rangers to win that game but obviously Hearts turned in a top quality performance.

“It will have put more pressure on them. They’ll be coming out against us trying to rectify it and get going again themselves, but there’s pressure on us, too – we need to get the first points since the winter break on the board and get going again.”

Boyce feels County have turned in some of their best performances of the campaign against teams from the upper reaches of the table, but is first to admit displays against lesser sides have left a lot to desire.

The trend has brought victories over Aberdeen and St Johnstone this season as well as two draws with Rangers, a point taken at Tynecastle and back-toback Highland derby wins.

But recent defeats to Kilmarnock and Motherwell, as well as costly setbacks against the likes of Hamilton and Partick highlight the inconsistency at play within Jim McIntyre’s squad.

“We haven’t been happy with our last couple of performances. Before the winter break came we were playing quite well,” Boyce stressed.

“Against Kilmarnock, where we had the bad start then forced our way into the game, we were playing well but then switched off at set-pieces.

“That has cost us goals in the last couple of games, so we need to fix that and push on from there.

“We’re just not concentrating enough. Set-pieces are a big part of the game and we have to change that.

“At the start of the season I was injured for the trip down there, but the boys did really well.

“We got the draw but Alex Schalk had a wee chance during the match to win it.

“We’re going there just to try and get a bit of momentum going again.

“If we take something from it, it will be a good boost for everyone at the club.”