Waghorn limps away from Killie on crutches
RANGERS suffered a Scottish Cup injury scare last night after top scorer Martyn Waghorn limped away from Rugby Park on crutches. The English striker slotted his 28th goal of the season from the penalty spot as the Championship leaders sealed a place in the last eight with a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock. Nicky Clark secured victory with a dramatic injury-time volley after Rory McKenzie had equalised for the hosts. A home tie with Premiership Dundee or Championship Dumbarton now awaits, with the only blot on the night being the third-minute injury to Waghorn following his opening goal. ‘Martyn was one of those,’ said Ibrox boss Mark Warburton. ‘Locked legs, I don’t know if he caught the surface. ‘He took the penalty, credit to him, but we will see how he is. He is on crutches and we will see how he is in the morning.’ Delighted with a second-half display which ended Lee McCulloch’s final match as Killie caretaker boss in defeat — with new manager Lee Clark maintaining a watching brief from the stands — Warburton admitted he was savouring the prospect of a home match in the quarter-finals. ‘Dundee or Dumbarton, Ibrox has been good for us and we
hope to get a full house,’ he continued. ‘We had 9,000 fans here at Kilmarnock and had a responsibility to come and deliver the result. It was really pleasing for the players and fans. ‘It was a tough game at a tough venue, but we got the result. Over the two games, we were stronger and performed well. ‘I thought in the second half we were very good. We didn’t want to get involved in a cup fight, didn’t want a battle, but the first 25 minutes were a battle. ‘The last 15 minutes were better then, in the second half, we wanted to control it and create chances, play out from the back and I was really pleased. ‘It was a tremendous winner, but we had shots blocked before it and had a blatant penalty shout for Kenny Miller. ‘But we attacked, looked after the ball, were first to the ball with good energy and were very good in the second half.’ It was a sickening late defeat for McCulloch, who blamed two lapses in concentration. ‘It was obviously hard to take, with the goal being in the last minute,’ he said. ‘The boys switched off in the first minutes of the first half to gift a clear penalty then switched off in the last minute from a set-piece. ‘For the first 65 minutes, I thought we did really well. But then the ball retention wasn’t too good. ‘We sat too deep and Rangers were more and more in the game and more likely to nick the winner. ‘Maybe it was tiredness, but it shouldn’t have been. The way Rangers moved the ball so quickly, they’re well-drilled. ‘We had a lot of youngsters who did themselves proud, but maybe we just didn’t have enough to get us over the line in the end.’ Motherwell’s 3-0 win over Dundee United brought more bad news for the Ayrshire team as they dropped back into the Premiership relegation play-off spot. Preparing to hand the reins over to Clark for Saturday’s home clash with Dundee, however, McCulloch said the new man was encouraged by what he saw. ‘The league is now the bigger battle,’ he added. ‘We play in the cup with the shackles off and, here, for the first half hour, we were pretty good. ‘The new manager came in at half-time and full-time and said stuff before the game to the lads. ‘There’s a lot that’s encouraging there with the young boys.’