He’ll need plenty to go his way, but as the only team to have beaten Rangers this season, Jim Goodwin knows his St Mirren side can pull off another shock.
The Buddies host Rangers in Premiership action on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier this month, Goodwin’s men eliminated Steven Gerrard’s from the League Cup in a dramatic 3-2 success.
Now looking for a similar end result against Rangers in the league, a Gers side who have an Old Firm derby this weekend, Goodwin says it’s a game the team from Govan may not want.
“I think Rangers would rather not come back here with such a huge game at the weekend,” Goodwin explained. “Whenever you play either side of the Old Firm, you need them to have a below-par performance.
“If they play to the levels they are capable of, they probably win the match. I know the game against Celtic is far more important than the one against us. Steven Gerrard will want to win them both.
“But if you asked him what he would rather, it would likely be the one against Celtic. We are hoping for any advantage we can get. If Rangers are saving their legs for Celtic, great, but I expect them to be too professional for that.”
And after the last time, Goodwin’s need not be scared of this task: “We are going into the game with the mindset we can win the game. We scored three goals against them last time so we have nothing to fear.
“We know the quality Rangers have. I would expect Borna Barisic to come in, Alfredo Morelos might start up top. But regardless of that, it’s going to be a team full of international quality players.
“The plan, the system, the tactics worked, so why would we change it? The message to the players is the exact same, it’s concentration levels against Rangers. If everyone isn’t on the same page, Rangers can pick you off. We have showed them all the good things they did last time and asked them to replicate that. We are capable of causing them problems.”