Jim Goodwin’s had many a battle at Ibrox- and he’s telling his St Mirren men to go into their Rangers match with belief and a ‘ruthless’ streak.
Goodwin takes the Buddies to Ibrox tomorrow as the Premiership gets back underway. They prepared for this match with a 3-0 win over Broxburn Athletic in the Scottish Cup.
The Buddies eased past Broxburn. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
A big task awaits them in Govan. Rangers have only lost once all season but Goodwin’s men did run them close earlier in the season as the Gers scraped a 1-0 win in Paisley.
The St Mirren boss is no stranger to the atmosphere away to Rangers and whilst for some it’ll be their first time living it, Goodwin says that the Buddies must take their chances when they get them.
“I always think as a manager, it’s easier to set your team up to be defensive,” said Goodwin. “It’s harder to come up with different movements and patterns of play to break a team down who are stubborn.
St Mirren have tried to beat Rangers at Ibrox in the past. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty images)
“We found it difficult in the first 45 against Broxburn so we’re going to have to do similar to Rangers. We’re going to have to be compact, deny them space. If we do that side of the game properly we believe we’ve got good attacking players in the forward areas that can cause them problems.
“It’ll be more in a counter-attacking format but the big thing against the Old Firm is you maybe get two or three good chances. You’ve got to be ruthless when they come along.
“We’ll have a few boys that are going there for the first time and I think they will be excited. It’ll be near enough a full house and it’ll be a great experience for them.
Jamie McGrath could make his league debut. (Photo By Ben McShane/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
“We must have that belief we can cause an upset, we’re due to beat one of the big boys soon. I loved playing at Ibrox, it’s great. There is a very expecting Rangers support now that I believe they can pip Celtic to the title.
“The league is great at both ends of the table. When teams like ourselves go there and make life difficult for them, you can sense the anxiety building in the stadium. We need to get through that first 15-20 minute period because if you do that you give yourself a great chance of causing an upset.”