Midfielder Ryan Jack has said that Rangers’ only focus is on ensuring we book our place in the League Cup semi finals later tonight.
With a two all draw against Partick Thistle last Friday, clearly Rangers have to improve and go one step further to take the victory but Jack believes we have already put that disappointment behind us and we are now ready to step up and put ourselves one step closer to our first League Cup since 2011.
Then we can focus on Celtic.
Speaking to the Official Site in his own pre game press conference, the 25 year old explained that although the opposition will have taken confidence from the last result, this is a cup tie and stands alone and we already know where we went wrong in the last one, so will be out to put it right.
‘Any week at a club like Rangers is as equally important as the other, every game is a massive game and every team raises their game playing against us. Looking at tomorrow night it will be no different, Thistle will have got their point on Friday and they will believe they can go again and get a good result. We have to stand up to that and show them what we are about.’
Jack went on to say that ultimately it’s down to the players.
‘It is about doing as well as you can in every competition and we see this as a chance to get back to the national stadium and get to a semi-final and a chance of a cup final. You never know when you get to a final whether you can win it or not but you have to put yourself in the position to have that chance. There isn`t a bigger game this week than getting this club to the semi-final of the League Cup. The fans since I have come here have been great, home and away their support is fantastic, you saw that on Friday night. When you go out and see that stand at Firhill packed out with Rangers fans it is a great to see. They got right behind us right till the end and I am sure tomorrow night will be no different. They will be there to do their bit and I think as players it is down to us to get them behind us and do our bit.’
With Lee Wallace going off injured in Friday’s game, Jack admitted he was obviously going to be a miss but he also knows it’s the perfect opportunity for Declan John to step up and show the fans what he’s capable of.
‘It is a blow to lose any player but Lee is such a big player in the changing room and he is a great leader and a great captain. For him to be ruled out is a hard one for him to take and it is disappointing for us as players. I am sure he will stay strong and as a team we will get through it.’
He went on to say.
‘Declan will see it as chance to come in and do really well. I thought he did perfectly fine on Friday, he says himself that he hasn`t had a lot of game time over pre-season and the back end of last season. It was probably the first good amount of minutes he has had in a while. I think he handled it fine and I am sure he will build on that.’
