Michael Beale is fearful his Rangers players could pull up on Wednesday after playing 120 minutes on a 'really bad' surface at Hampden.
The Rangers boss is gleeful that his side are in to their first final under his tenure after a long slog against Aberdeen saw late extra-time heroics from Kemar Roofe seal an Old Firm derby clash next month for the Viaplay Cup. Beale watched the Light Blues go through the wringer against Jim Goodwin's men but ultimately left Hampden the happier of the two coaches.
But a huge factor in the semi-final was the Hampden surface, something Ange Postecoglou and Derek McInnes had alluded to on Saturday, with the turf taking a battering from poor weather in the build up to the showpiece clashes. Roofe was just one casualty for Rangers after the game but Beale shared his fear more players could seize up after playing on the tough surface.
READ MORE: Michael Beale in Rangers 'must not stop' message as he provides injury update on Kemar Roofe
He said: “It’s a fantastic stadium. I enjoy coming here to be involved or to watch. I thought both semi-finals were excellent – four teams really went for it. The two underdogs really took it to the two favourites.
“But the pitch is in a really bad state for what are showpiece games when players are dreaming and hoping. We need to have better than that. We can’t control the weather but can we separate the two weekends with one this weekend and one next? That’s for other people to decide but that was a difficult pitch.
“It will take its toll because we have to play Wednesday as do the other three teams so we could have injuries from a heavy pitch and there will be heavy legs to go again on Wednesday and then next weekend. I just think we have an excellent game at the moment. We have a lot of good players, teams are going for it and there is open football. We’ve got a good product and we should present it in the right way.
“We knew the VAR was failing and kept failing, To be fair Jim and I we wanted to play the game without it because there were a lot of breaks in the game and that didn’t help either team although I thought the officials had a good game."
READ NEXT:
- Chris Sutton labels Rangers target Todd Cantwell 'talented' but makes 'punt' transfer warning
- Malik Tillman Rangers future claim as Michael Beale puts loanee in best of SPFL list
