No Highland welcome for Rangers today
Ross County co-manager Steven Ferguson wants to turn the Global Energy Stadium into the Rangers players’ worst nightmare.
Steven Gerrard’s shellshocked men head for the Highlands today after successive defeats by Hearts and Hamilton ended their league and cup hopes in the space of just five days.
And Fergie has urged his players to heap fresh misery on the Rangers manager and his underachieving squad.
He said: “We need to make this a horrible place for them to come to by putting them und er pressure to see if they can handle it.
“We would be crazy not to try to exploit the situation. You look for any chink in the opposition’s armour in the hope you can take advantage, and Rangers have been having a tough time domestically.
“But I watched their European exploits and was blown away by their performance, so we know both sides of the coin and w h at the y a re al s o capable of.
“But playing at 12 o’clock on a Sunday. Will that suit Rangers? Who knows?
“The weather we’ve had the past few months means that the pitch isn’t great. So what effect might that have on them?
“We need something to feed off and put them under pressure early and try to turn their supporters against them
– and try to turn their players against each other if they are feeling the heat.
“The match is live on TV so does that put them under more pressure psychologically, or will t h ey se e it as an opportunity to show they are back on track?
“Everything can go either way, but they are not under any more pressure than our players.
“Every team carries the burden of expectation to perform for their supporters, the manger, the club and themselves.
“Rangers are expected to win but the team that handles the psychological aspects better can use that to their advantage.
“I’ve no doubt Rangers will be up for it and well versed in what they need to do. So not for a second do I think that anything we are going to get is going to be given to us.
“If we are to get anything out of the game we’ll have to fight, scratch and roll about for everything.”
But Fergie has faith in the squad’s ability to bounce back from their 4- 1 midweek defeat at Motherwell.
He added: “We just need to join everything up to make sure everybody maximises what they have.
“We can also take heart from the Hamilton result.
“But we’ll not focus on Rangers and their problems because we’ve got enough to think about ourselves.”