Michael Beale insists he won’t be keeping any of his key men in reserve for Hampden as the Rangers boss vowed to send out his strongest team at Livingston.
The Londoner’s side head to the Tony Macaroni Arena today as the Ibrox faithful cast an eye towards next Sunday's Viaplay Cup final clash with Celtic. It could be a tricky selection for Beale, who has injury worries in midfield with John Lundstram, Nico Raskin and Ryan Jack all nursing knocks, while defensive linchpin Connor Goldson is also a doubt.
But Beale has dismissed the notion could rest his main men against Livi to keep them fresh as they go in search of this season’s first piece of domestic silverware. He said: “I don’t want to think about the game after this game, only Saturday’s game. I’m not a coach who does that. I only think about the game in front of you because you can’t pick a team for a week’s time - that doesn’t work.
“You want to keep the momentum. Whatever happens with the result this week we need to win next week either way because it’s a cup final and I will deal with that team probably Thursday or Friday, the back end of next week. As it stands right now the midfield is my biggest concern for this weekend because that’s the area where we have a few issues.”
Beale - who has negotiated his first 13 games in charge at Ibrox without suffering defeat - is reluctant to tempt his team’s luck by sending out a second string to face Davie Martindale’s Livi outfit. But that doesn’t mean he will risk returning ace Ianis Hagi on the Almondvale astro.
He said: “Prior injuries for sure (come into my thinking). Ianis Hagi has never had a problem playing on an artificial surface but he has just returned from an ACL so we have to be realistic there.”
Today’s clash will offer former Liverpool youth coach Beale a reunion with Livi No.1 Shemal George, who he previously worked with during his time on Merseyside. But the Ibrox boss shot down rumours the 25-year-old was on his list of potential goalkeeping recruits for the summer.
Beale - who also dismissed reports claiming he was set to move for Norwich shot-stopper Angus Gunn - said: “I don’t know whether that link has come around because I coached Shamal when he was 14, 15, 16, he was my under-23s goalie as well. I know him and his family really well. I don’t know if it’s anything more than that.”
The clock is ticking towards the end of the season when nine Rangers players see contracts or loan deals expire.
Beale has already made clear he wants to keep the likes of Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Bayern Munich kid Malik Tillman but the rest still have time to convince him they are worth fresh deals.
He said: “It’s Ross Wilson’s role to speak to the agents, I try to concentrate on managing the players day in, day out. I’ve had no further chats and I won’t now until post-cup final regardless, just so that the focus is on the game.
“I want to wait as long as I can to see how this season works out (before deciding on new deals). There are a few things I still need to see. You can read between the lines, there are one or two that I am very close to, they are playing all the time and they are fundamental to us.
“But I still feel that the fans pay their money to come and watch our team play and between now and the end of the season everybody needs to do more. We are in debt to the fans a little bit because of the way the first half of the season went.”
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