Rangers prepare for tough run of Christmas fixtures

18 December 2011 02:16

Ally McCoist says Rangers need to be mentally strong as they prepare for a tough run of festive fixtures which will feature a Christmas clash against Celtic.

The Gers manager watched as his side scraped a narrow 2-1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle thanks to a Kyle Lafferty strike seven minutes from time.

At one stage the Ibrox club held a 12-point advantage over Old Firm rivals Celtic but a dip in form recently means the gap could be cut to as little as four points if the Hoops defeat Dundee United on Sunday.

The sides clash at Parkhead on December 28 in a game that could go a long way to deciding the destination of the title.

And McCoist says that with difficult games against St Mirren and third-placed Motherwell either side of the Old Firm clash his side need to show a mental toughness if they are to come out of the festive period still on top.

"We will work on the shape of the team and set plays and things we can obviously work on. But there are things you can?t work on which are just as important and they are all mental really; it?s belief, hunger and desire," the Rangers manager said.

"All these things add up to success and league championships. These are things that are as important if not more important than anything.

"We have always had that in abundance and we will certainly need that in the period coming up.

"It will certainly be required for us to retain the championship. The Inverness game would indicate that we certainly have it because it was a game which we could quite easily lost or drawn."

Rangers winger Gregg Wylde admits his side must up their performance if they are to defeat Celtic next week.

"The Inverness game shows us that we still need to work on a few things," Wylde said.

"We didn?t play particularly well and I think we can play a bit better. We might not get away with that as the season goes on. Teams like Celtic might pick us off but if we play as well as we did before that we can do well."

At Ibrox, Carlos Bocanegra had headed Rangers into a 55th minute lead before Inverness equalised in controversial circumstances in the 67th minute when substitute Andrew Shinnie fired past Allan McGregor with Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic lying injured up-field.

Terry Butcher?s side had a Richie Foran effort ruled out for off-side then hit the post and had a shot cleared off the line before second-half substitute Lafferty, who had been struggling with a back injury earlier in the week, struck late on to get Rangers off the hook.

It was Lafferty?s sixth goal of the season and McCoist revealed he hopes the striker, who has 18 months of his current deal, will soon sign a new long-term contract with the club.

"We have spoken to Kyle and his representatives and as far as I know things are ticking along nicely and I don?t foresee any problems," the Gers manager said.

"I don?t think there is any immediate rush but obviously we are very keen for him to stay and the good news is he is very keen to sign.

"It was just a wee twinge in his back early in the week so that was the reason we didn?t start him against Inverness.

"But as you can see he is a very influential player for us no matter when he appears on the park."

Source: AFP