Oh, man! From a Bairn to a

Blair Alston remembers when facing Rangers felt like men against Bairns.

But the St Johnstone star insists today’s clash with the Gers will be a battle between equals.

Alston faced Rangers on a regular basis in cup and Championship clashes whilst coming through the ranks at Falkirk.

In the early days, heavy defeats weren’t uncommon.

But after helping both Falkirk and St Johnstone to notable victories over the Ibrox men in more recent times – and grabbing a few stunning goals along the way – Alston has no fears over taking them on.

“Against Rangers I’ve probably been lucky,” he said. “Especially in my time at Falkirk, you’re probably lucky to even play Rangers, but I think I played them eight or nine times.

“We seemed to draw them in every cup, then they ended up in the Championship, and they didn’t go up straight away.

“We seemed to be playing them all the time.

“Some people don’t get a chance to play against them, never get a chance to play at Ibrox.

“It sounds silly but the first time I played there, they were head and shoulders above us at Falkirk.

“It was men against boys.

“You’re turning up and thinking: ‘ What’s going on here?’

“But through doing that, it got me a little bit more comfortable.

“Now, having played a lot of games and been fortunate to play at many big