Source: Team_Talk
Lafferty eyeing cup final place
The Northern Ireland international was on fine form as Rangers cruised into the last four of the Homecoming Scottish Cup with an emphatic 5-1 victory on Sunday - their fifth win of the season over Accies.[LNB]Steven Whittaker set the ball rolling at Ibrox only to see his opener cancelled out by Rocco Quinn, before Lafferty restored the home side's lead and Aaron converted from the penalty spot.[LNB]Steven Davis then netted early in the second half but it was fellow countryman Lafferty who had the final say when he completed the rout to take Rangers one step closer to another Hampden final.[LNB]Thoughts now turn to Sunday's showpiece event at the national stadium when Rangers and Celtic battle for the first silverware of the season, and Lafferty is desperate to play his part once again.[LNB]"Strikers are judged on goals so, hopefully, after scoring these two goals, I've done enough to play in the final," he said.[LNB]"I just want to wear the blue jersey and I'll play anywhere I'm told to play. Thankfully, this time, it was up front and I was delighted to get the two goals."[LNB]Celtic's shock Scottish Cup exit at the hands of St Mirren on Saturday means Rangers are the only club who can complete a domestic treble this season and such a scenario would be a dream come true for Lafferty in his first year at Ibrox.[LNB]He said: "As a fan, it would be amazing. As a player, I think we deserve it.[LNB]"We have been playing some good football and, at one stage in this game, we had 36 passes. That's what we can do and hopefully we can keep it going until the end of the season."[LNB]Celtic's conquerors, St Mirren, await Rangers in the last four of the Scottish Cup.[LNB]"I'm happy with that," said Lafferty. "They gave Celtic a really hard game at the weekend so I think everybody is expecting another difficult game."[LNB]Hamilton's injury woes resulted in them playing most of the second half with 10 men after Brian Easton, Mark McLaughlin and David Elebert were forced out of the action in the first half and Richard Offiong hobbled off shortly after the restart.[LNB]Boss Billy Reid admitted he now has major concerns ahead of next week's SPL clash at Aberdeen.[LNB]He said: "We have guys in there who are struggling big time and that's a big problem.[LNB]"It's a massive concern for us. We can't afford to lose players of that calibre, big players for us. But we will assess it during the week."[LNB][LNB]
