BUOYANT CIFTCI IS NO SOFTY

Nadir ready to get physical

WITHOUT the tiki-tackety, there may be no tiki- taka. Dundee United are aware that the price for playing free-flowing football is often measured out i n hard yards won, tackles made … and possibly even dull dunts received.

It’s no disrespect to Rangers to suggest that a robust approach, harrying and hassling t heir Scottish Cup semi-final opponents, represents the Ibrox side’s best chance of creating an upset today.

If nothing else, a rip- snorting gerrintaethem start will instantly get the home crowd right behind a team under no little pressure to win back hearts and minds.

But will a flat-out physical battle really be enough to cause serious disruption in a United side prone to more than the odd performance dip? Well, you would hardly expect Jackie McNamara or his players to admit to such a weakness.

If anything, Nadir Ciftci almost seems to be relishing the thought of Lee McCulloch and Bilel Moshni trying to knock him out of his stride.

‘You expect it to be physical and we go into every match expecting a battle,’ said the Dutch- born Turkish international, who is no shrinking violet when it comes to confrontational clashes. ‘ We will j ust have to be prepared f or anything that comes up.

‘I don’t know if Rangers will be physical against us, they might. We have had teams try to get us out of the game a few times this season.

‘ But we’ve shown the right character against those sort of teams and have done well. At the start of the season we were maybe not there yet but, in the last few games, we have shown we’re strong physically and mentally. If we take that attitude into Saturday, we’ll be fine.

The big man is confident enough. With a bit of advice from agent — and former Celtic star — Pierre van Hooijdonk tucked away for use today, he seems nigh on certain that United’s quality will overcome anything Rangers might muster.

‘I will enjoy going to Ibrox,’ he said. ‘I have spoken to Pierre about it. He knows what it’s like. The crowd at Ibrox didn’t like him much so he said to just be ready for it.

‘The Rangers fans might try to make it hostile and will do anything to make it easier for their side. But we will cope with that.’

Manager McNamara has worked hard to turn his young team into more than just a one-trick pony. If needed, he insisted, they will get down and dirty with anybody.

‘I think we are good at playing a certain way but we have also shown we can adapt,’ said the former Celtic and Scotland player.

‘ We have t o match t hem physically but I think we did that in the last round at Inverness.

We have to match Rangers first and foremost and we have learned the physical side. You look at every game, you need energy and commitment. It’s not all about: “Give us the ball and we will play”.

‘You have to earn the right to play and we have to do that by taking the game to Rangers, playing with high pressure to get the ball and, when we get it, we want to cause them problems. We don’t want to sit off them. We are not that sort of team. We need to get at them.’