|
Home | Front Page
MyEXPRESS
Have Your Say
News / Showbiz
Scottish
Sport
- Latest Sport
- Football
- Cricket
- Rugby Union
- Rugby League
- Golf
- Tennis
- Motorsport
- Racing
- Netball
- Speedway
- Other Sport
Pictures
Video
Features
Horoscope
Our Comment
The Crusader
Entertainment
TV Guide
Money
Motoring
Travel
Careers
Fun / Competitions
Cartoon
Blogs
Forgotten Verse
Have a Story?
Contact Us
Polls
Retirement
Property
Our Paper
  
|
FOOTBALLPRESSURE IS ON RANGERS, INSISTS Q.O.S STAR AITKEN
UNDER PRESSURE: Aitken feels Rangers can't be at the top of their game with their busy schedule Tuesday May 20,2008 By Gary KeownQUEEN of the South stalwart Andy Aitken reckons the pressure is piling on Rangers boss Walter Smith from all angles in the build-up to the Scottish Cup Final. The 30-year-old defender insists there's no way the Light Blues can carry on with their tactic of playing one up front when they are facing a First Division team in the showpiece fixture of the domestic season.
And he feels Smith's players cannot possibly be at the top of their game on Saturday afternoon – just 40 hours or so after their late-night title decider with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
Aitken expected the Light Blues manager to rotate his squad much more to cope with a congested calendar and says the SPL side, whose campaign is in danger of collapsing, will be the team feeling the heat at Hampden whatever happens in their bid to lift the Premier League crown.
Aitken said: “They are going to have to take a first-team squad up to Pittodrie.
Depending on what happens, they might well be under pressure to play their first-team at Hampden as well.
“Rangers have a big
squad and they do have the luxury of using all their players, but I
don't really feel they've done that this season. You would have expected them to do a lot more of it, so that maybe shows the pressure they are under.
“There's no pressure on us at all and we can just go to Hampden and enjoy the occasion.
“Rangers will have to travel up and down from Aberdeen on the Thursday night and you can't be right for as big a game as a Scottish Cup Final when you've had to do that.”
Rangers did play two strikers in their Scottish Cup wins over Partick and St Johnstone. Aitken believes they can't possibly stick with the general policy of playing a lone frontman that has seen them slaughtered for playing 'anti-football' both at home and abroad.
Aitken said: “Rangers can't possibly play the way they have been playing against us on Cup Final day.
You can understand the situations they have faced in Europe and the tactics they have played.
However, they can't go out the same way against us.
“I don't want to go too much into it because I don't want to be disrespectful to Rangers, but they can't stick with one up front against Queen Of The South.”
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sitemap | Contact | Advertise Here | Site Credits Copyright ©2006 Northern and Shell Media Publications. "Daily Express" is a registered trademark.
All rights reserved. By viewing this site you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.