Michael Beale has told his Rangers players they must be able to carry the weight of the “heavy shirt” at Ibrox as he gears up for a huge week.
The Ibrox side are looking to keep slim Scottish Premiership title hopes alive when they travel to Hibs on Wednesday as they trail leaders and defending champions Celtic by nine points before continuing the defence of their Scottish Cup with a quarter final clash against Raith Rovers at home.
Beale’s men bounced back from their Viaplay Cup final defeat to Celtic with a 3-1 win over Kilmarnock in the league but the disappointment still lingers from their Hampden loss and the Light Blues boss knows the demands from being at the club. He said: “It’s a huge privilege to be the manager of this club, and you have to deal with the pressure that comes with the role. I’ve been happy in the main with the progress, but yes do need to improve a lot more. I thought we played very well in the first half on Saturday. We need to improve and it will be an interesting few months ahead.
“It’s a heavy shirt at times, but it is an amazing experience to play for this club. With that shirt comes expectations. The next 13/14 games we have to win as many games as we can and retain the Scottish Cup. This is a pivotal week, but every week is always an important one at Rangers. We controlled the game at the weekend but we have to be more ruthless in the final third.
“We have no fresh injuries after the weekend. We now need to keep moving forward. It is a big week. We have a tough test on Wednesday and then the cup tie at the weekend. Antonio Colak is in a good place physically and mentally after the match at the weekend.
“I’ve been delighted with Todd Cantwell. He hasn’t played a lot of football but he is super fit. His work ethic and willingness to win the ball back. He is an interesting player behind the striker or playing further back to unlock a team.”
Hibs play their first home game since the passing of chairman Ron Gordon and Beale said: “Our condolences go to Ronald Gordon and his family. It will be an emotional night against a good opponent and it should make for an interesting game. Our away form is strong and we will go there confident. It should make for a good game. It makes for a nicer game of football when two teams go head to head. It is always a good game when we go to Easter Road.”
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