Rangers ready for run-in - Jardine

The Light Blues' Scottish Premier League title challenge - they are one point behind champions Celtic with fives games remaining - will be put on hold for the weekend to accommodate the Homecoming Scottish Cup semi-finals.The cup holders take on St Mirren at Hampden on Saturday before Falkirk face Dunfermline at the national stadium the next day.Last season, Walter Smith's side were infamously embroiled in a fixture pile-up as they headed towards a UEFA Cup final and a Scottish Cup final, while battling to take the SPL title back from Celtic.But an early European exit to FBK Kaunas in the Champions League qualifiers has left Rangers to concentrate on the domestic scene this season.Consequently Jardine, who played for the Ibrox club from the 1960s through to the early 1980s, is confident of battling on both fronts.He said:"Compared to last season, this is easy."Look at the fixtures we came through last year, it was incredible."The only reason we lost the league was the amount of games we had to play."I think we played 68 games which was the highest amount of games for any Scottish club."We also played a record-equalling 19 games in Europe last season."We won the Scottish Cup, lost the league on the last day and lost the UEFA Cup final."So the players were magnificent and compared to the amount of games we played last season, this season is nothing."Ominously for the Bairns, the Ibrox club have not lost a Scottish Cup semi-final since 1972 when they were defeated by Hibernian after a replay.Jardine believes a winning mentality fostered at both Old Firm clubs contributes to that type of success.He said: "Generally, when Rangers and Celtic get to semi-finals they do very well."They are used to playing in Hampden, it's like a second home."We played Celtic there in the League Cup final a few weeks ago but this will be St Mirren's first appearance there for a while."There is a bigger expectation at Rangers, which can put pressure on you but if you are a Rangers player then you should be used to that pressure."

Source: Team_Talk