WASTED YEARS IN WILDERNESS
Ibrox star Lee’s lament if Rangers blow promotion chance
LEE WALLACE admits it will feel like a ‘wasted three years’ if Rangers fail to win promotion to the Premiership this season.
Having seen their dreams of a thirdstraight league crown killed off several months ago as Hearts romped clear at the top of the table, the Light Blues now face the prospect of missing out on the playoffs if they don’t halt a miserable run of form that has seen them win just once in their last nine games.
Wallace has been a key player for Rangers on ‘The Journey’ back to the top of Scottish football and reckons missing out on promotion this term would be a hard blow to take.
He said: “It would feel like a lost season but it would also feel like it has been a wasted three years.
“We always felt we had the ability and we were going to make the steps and make it a seamless transition straight to the
Premiership. It would be a massive disappointment and not many of us through there could contemplate staying and playing another year in the Championship.
“It’s going to be a difficult one for the mind. The mental strain over the last three years has been more difficult than anyone can imagine.
“Yes, you’re playing against part-time players and that’s fine. I’ll always take that into consideration.
“But the mental strain of not playing your football and with the crowds and opponents you expect, it has been a mental strain.
“It has maybe been a bit different this year with the better opposition.
“We need to make sure while there’s still a chance, we 110 per cent get out of this league. It’s as simple as that.”
While Wallace has been one of Rangers’ most consistent performers in recent years, he has been unable to inspire the Light Blues this term as their season fell apart under Ally McCoist and then Kenny McDowall.
New boss Stuart McCall takes his side to Easter Road tomorrow in desperate need of a win to kickstart their campaign and promotion bid.
Wallace said: “It has been disappointing this season, of course.
“Naturally, I wanted to keep the standards high and it hasn’t been the case on the park.
“For whatever reason, I don’t know because it hasn’t been for a lack of effort or a lack of wanting to do it. That can probably be said of a number of us.
“Although it’s a team game, we have not allowed ourselves as individuals to prosper this season, I would say.
“There are a number of great individuals through there who would make a great team and across world football, all the best teams are based on being a good team.”
Meanwhile, Richard Foster is out for another four to six weeks after undergoing a hernia operation.
Fellow full-backs Seb Faure (knee) and Steven Smith (back) also remain on the sidelines for tomorrow’s clash with Hibs.