Arbroath Vs Rangers - Official Matchday Thread

THE WIND tends to howl at Gayfield Park on the best of days but Ally McCoist is insisting his side won't blow it when they take on Arbroath in the William Hill Scottish Cup.

The Rangers boss is short on numbers for the 4th round clash which some see as a potential banana skin.

But he insists that if Rangers can continue from where the left off against Motherwell last Monday, they will have more than enough in their locker for the Second Division outfit bossed by former Aberdeen and Caley Thistle player Paul Sheerin.

He said: "I have been to Gayfield on numerous occasions. I think I'm correct in saying it is closer to sea than any other football stadium in the UK.

"I just hope for everybody's sake that we don't get the wind that we had earlier this week or there is a possibility that Sone Aluko or Flecky will end up in Norway!

"I always remember it as a terrific place. It's a game we want to do well in and hopefully we can continue passing the ball as well as we did against Motherwell last Monday.

"Arbroath have been going well. I know they lost their last game but they have been having a good season and they have a manager in Paul Sheerin who wasn't a bad player in his day.

"I remember we won 3-0 back in 1993 when Neil Murray and Mark Hateley scored and I got a penalty and I would settle for that score right now.

"If we go about it in the right way, pass the ball well and play at a high tempo then we should be fine.

"Obviously it will be the biggest game in the careers of a lot of the Arbroath players and they will fancy themselves for a shock and we have to make sure it doesn't happen."



McCoist will need to select a new captain for the Cup tie - unless he brings back Davie Weir - as Steve Davis is suspended due to two bookings last season.

He said: "We haven't decided yet. We will have to look at the personnel before we are in a position to pick the skipper.

"We know we are going to miss Steve so picking a skipper is something we won't take lightly.

"We have leaders in our team so it's not something that is concerning me greatly. We have people like Bocanegra, Papac and Goian for example."

Rangers will be without Kyle Lafferty, Steven Whitaker, Lee McCulloch and Kirk Broadfoot while Nikica Jelavic is a doubt.