Source: FOOTYMAD
While There Is A Game On Wednesday, There Is Hope
Lee McCulloch remians confident that Rangers can surprise Manchester United Next Wednesday Rangers welcome Manchester United to Ibrox hoping home advantage will allow them to do away with their 'park the bus' tactics and keep their Champions League dream alive. Their opening game in Group C could not have been more daunting but they managed to leave Old Trafford with a point. United have been unable to deliver their best in the Premier League recently and Lee McCulloch says Wednesday's game could be Rangers' best shot at picking up three valuable points. He said: "With the way we play, I think we've got a system which could help us take something off United and it would be great if it was a win. I'm not sure if there's ever a good time to play them because they are such a strong side and have been for many years. But they've dropped a lot of points in the Premiership recently, probably more than they have for a long time, and that gives us a bit of hope. This is maybe a decent point at which to get them because they're in a similar situation to us where they've got a few injuries and they have had to rotate players. They are maybe going into games a little bit tired as well so, while they've got some world-class players, we have to work things to our advantage." After tasting defeat in Spain, Valencia are now favourites to move into the last 16 with United winning the group. Rangers' and McCulloch still live in hope that they can pull off a surprise and secure second place in their Group. Turkish champions Bursaspor are pointless but finishing third is not something McCulloch is willing to settle for just yet. A win on Wednesday is vital for Rangers to have any hope of remaining in the Champions League after Christmas. McCulloch said: "This is a home game which we would be looking to come out on top in anyway but it's a must-win match. If we're to have any chance at all of staying in the competition, we really need to take three points from United. If we win our last two matches, we'll still have a decent chance of going through to the last 16. Even then, we'll need a result or two to go our way elsewhere and, although this one coming up is against one of the best sides in the world, we can't think about that. We've got to take the game to them and try to get a positive result. A lot of things could happen in the group but we just have to think about ourselves. It's all about what we do and I'm sure the crowd will get behind us next week at Ibrox. They realise how good our opponents are and that we will be underdogs. If we can play the way we have been in Europe so far - a small period in Valencia aside - I think we have a chance of getting the result we are looking for. At the very worst, we are looking for third place in the group but we'll be aiming to do as well as we possibly can." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba.net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
