SIMON SAYS GERS BRING OUT HIS BEST
SIMON MURRAY has an advantage over the majority of his Ross County team-mates.
The Staggies have never beaten Rangers – but the in-form striker knows from personal experience what it takes to put one over on the Ibrox side.
Rangers will put their title ambitions on the line in Dingwall today.
But Murray reckons the fixture brings out the best in him and recalls scoring the opener as Hibs stunned the Ibrox men 3-2 back in August 2017.
He said: “It’s my best memory.
“It was a one-off but for all that I have suffered a few defeats against them, I don’t remember any really heavy losses.
“I’ve a lot of positive memories of games against Rangers. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever played badly against them.”
The 32-year-old hitman has been on fire this season with 17 goals including a match- winning double against Hearts last month.
Murray said: “I feel like I have been playing well consistently for a while.
“You train to a high level every day to give yourself the best chance of playing well on a Saturday.
“Of course it doesn’t always work out the way you would like.
“Luck is a big factor and strikers feed off the confidence of scoring goals. So it definitely helps when you get the breaks, the ball bounces in your favour and you stick it away.
“I’ll keep working hard and hopefully if I continue to perform decently I’ll be rewarded with a bit of luck.”
The Staggies are desperate to avoid a repeat of last season when their
Premiership fate hinged on a two-leg play-off against Partick Thistle.
Only a 90th- minute equaliser earned County a reprieve in the form of extra-time and penalties.
But with Livingston already seemingly doomed, they are once again playing Russian roulette in second bottom spot.
Murray claims that he and his team-mates are refusing to contemplate being dragged into a similar scenario.
But if County come up short, Murray insists they will be better prepared this time to meet the challenge head on.
He said: “Last season’s experience would stand us in good stead.
“But our aim has to be to avoid a similar scenario – and a result against Rangers would provide a huge confidence boost.
“They didn’t overwhelm us the last time they were up here and although we’ve had a couple of bad results, we have been competitive in a lot of games.
“They’ve got quality players all over the pitch who are dangerous and capable of hurting you.
“But we have players capable of hurting the opposition. Our aim will be to try to frustrate them for as long as possible so we si l ence their fans and maybe create a bit of pressure ourselves.”