Whittaker wants to make amends

02 August 2011 17:55
Steven Whittaker wants Rangers to prove a point to prove in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier at Malmo on Wednesday night.[LNB] Whittaker knows the Scottish champions did not do themselves justice in last week's first leg at Ibrox, where a Daniel Larsson strike swung the tie in favour of the Swedes.[LNB]However, Rangers have refused to give up hope of remaining in the competition and Whittaker expects the visitors to be out of the traps quickly at the Swedbank stadium.[LNB]He said: "We have to put right what went wrong in the game last week. We will have a point to prove.[LNB]"We know we weren't at it in the first leg and we are determined to put it right this time. We need to score goals to go through.[LNB]"Hopefully we can stay strong at the back but be quite offensive as well. It's important that we start well.[LNB]"We haven't done that at the start of the season and it's important that we get off to a flying start."[LNB]Rangers suffered a disappointing start to their campaign when they were held to a draw against Hearts in their SPL opener, before slumping to the 1-0 defeat to Malmo a few days later.[LNB]But Whittaker believes a much-needed victory at St Johnstone at the weekend has provided the necessary confidence-booster ahead of this crucial encounter.[LNB]He said: "It's definitely something we can take into this game.[LNB]"We've had a slow start to the season but we looked better at the weekend and we can take confidence from that into the game on Wednesday.[LNB]"It settled the whole squad down. It was our first win of the season and it just took that little bit of pressure off. Now we want to continue the winning streak."[LNB]Steven Davis - who has been wearing the captain's armband in the absence of injured skipper David Weir - is confident Rangers can build on the win against Saints.[LNB]He said: "It was important to get a good result as soon as possible and we managed to do that on Saturday.[LNB]"It was our best performance so far and hopefully we can have another good performance and get the right result on Wednesday."[LNB]Goalkeeper Allan McGregor came to the rescue with several impressive saves to deny Malmo a bigger advantage ahead of the second leg but Davis insists belief is strong in the Rangers dressing room.[LNB]He said: "We have played better but we created a number of opportunities in the second half. We just have to be wary because they have players who can hurt you going forward.[LNB]"We have to approach the game in the right manner but I'm confident we can progress.[LNB]"We have to be solid at the back and create the number of chances that we did in the first leg and take those chances when they come along.[LNB]"If we do that, we've got a good opportunity. There is genuine belief that we can progress."

Source: Team_Talk