KELLY CAUTIOUS OF READING TOO MUCH INTO STUTTERING FORM OF CHAMPIONS

MOTHERWELL keeper Liam Kelly has urged caution over his side’s ambition of ending their long wait for a league win over Rangers as they prepare to host the stuttering champions at Fir Park this afternoon.

The Steelmen beat Rangers 6-1 on aggregate in the

2015 Premiership play-off final, while a double from Louis Moult gave them a 2-0 victory in the League Cup semi-final in 2017. However, you need to go back 19 years to find the last time they beat the Light Blues in a league match and Kelly, who spent a dozen years in the youth system at Ibrox, is well aware of how difficult it will be to end that sequence when the clubs meet at Fir Park today.

Rangers have dropped nine points in their opening 11 fixtures, a far cry from last season when they had reached 33 games before letting as many slip from their grasp. The statistics say that Steven Gerrard’s team is not at the same level as the previous campaign but Kelly is not drawing any conclusions.

‘There is a feeling going about that they can be got at but they still went into this round of fixtures on top of the league,’ said the 25-year-old. ‘I wish we were sitting at the top of the table as well and people were saying that we could be got at!

‘Rangers are a top side and we know how tough it will be, but we feel that we’re in a good place. We got a point at Ibrox just a few weeks ago — and their goal was offside!’

Celtic’s draw with Livingston at Parkhead yesterday meant they missed the chance to move a point ahead of Rangers, who would have then been under extra pressure to claim victory today at Fir Park.

‘A Celtic win could have worked in our favour but it may also have worked against us,’ said Kelly. ‘It’s still very early, isn’t it? We’re in a decent position in the table but we know how hard this game will be.’