On Sunday Rangers turned in an impressive display at Hillsborough to take victory over Sheffield Wednesday, and Pedro Caixinha was suitably pleased.
Foraying into England for the match, goals from Josh Windass and Kenny Miller either side of half time was the perfect boost ahead of next weekend’s Premiership opener at Motherwell.
Rangers:
Foderingham, Hodson, Cardoso, Alves, Wallace, Windass (Kranjcar 74), Jack, Dorrans (Holt 90+4), Candeias (Waghorn 89), Miller (Wilson 86), Herrera (Morelos 80).
Subs:
Alnwick, Dalcio, Bates, Pena.
Sheffield Wednesday:
Westwood (Wildsmith 61), Jones, Reach, Hooper (Loovens 45), Lees, Rhodes (Fletcher 65), Boyd (Nuhiu 76), Hunt, Wallace (Forestieri 45), Pudil, Bannan.
Subs:
Dawson, Lee, Abdi, Winnall, Baker, Joao, Matias, Thorniley, Fox.
Att: 20,739.
Speaking to the Official Site in his post game press conference, Caixinha’s message was simply – keep the momentum going for the SPFL Premiership opener next weekend.
‘The last three games, Marseille, Watford and today Sheffield Wednesday, were fantastic for us to get our cohesion, to get our ideas, to add everything in and get our confidence and our belief. The boys have been making a fantastic effort in order to keep focussed and look forward, and today they had their bonus. We knew since the very beginning we are not the worst team in the world and we are not the best one, but we need to keep this focus and this approach to the game, especially since the very beginning, the principle of the 20 minutes.’
Caixinha went on to say.
‘They are doing it fantastically well. The Watford game was very similar to this wherein we controlled almost the entire first half, and while they confused us a little in the second half with the substitutions, we adapted with Kenny Miller dropping off more as a shadow striker to help Ryan Jack and Graham Dorrans in the middle. Things went OK in that moment, and we learned a very important lesson. Sometimes we have to sacrifice and suffer, and we can do that, and I am very happy with the boys. We need to take this momentum into the Motherwell game – and that`s the one which really matters.’
With over 7000 fans making the trip and more than contributing to the 20,000+ crowd the gaffer had praise for their support.
‘It was great, and, for sure, we are going to have a nice escort back home! For them, we know the team is getting the momentum, we knew this was going to be a good test, and we play all the time for them. We rely all the time on them and we want to deliver a team for them which matches their passion, which they bring all the time home and away.’
Also speaking following the game was goalscorer Windass who certainly wanted to find the net more often this coming campaign, the 23 year old explained about his strike.
‘I was pleased to get a goal; it has been a long time since I scored my last one! Obviously it is only a friendly so it doesn`t mean that much but it`s nice to get off the mark. I don`t think I had a point to prove this pre-season. I have no idea how the manager is thinking but I can only keep playing how I have been playing.’
He went on to say.
‘I have scored a few goals in pre-season so hopefully that is enough to get in the team. I have always said that if I play in the position where I played for my last club then I could always get goals but I haven`t really had that opportunity since I`ve come here. Hopefully I can play in a bit more of an attacking position this season and get some more goals in the league.’
Speaking about the performance overall, he knew it would be a boost ahead of the league season because Wednesday are no bad side having challenged the second tier play offs for two seasons running.
‘They are a really strong Championship side and I am sure they will do well again this season. But we came here and I think we made it quite a comfortable win in the end. It is a good result for us before Motherwell next weekend.’
