Rangers kick off the defence of their Scottish Cup crown with an all-Premiership clash with St Johnstone.
The Light Blues have bad memories of their last trip to Perth with then boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst suffering defeat in a run of results that ultimately cost him his job. Michael Beale has since arrived and is unbeaten since taking over in the dugout. His side have shown their powers of recovery on more than one occasion with Kilmarnock midweek the latest five-goal thriller win. They've reached the League Cup Final with an extra-time win over Aberdeen and now they get started in the other domestic competition.
Should the Ibrox men advance to the next stage they will discover their last 16 opponents tomorrow night but that will be at the back of the minds of the players and staff with the job at hand to be done first this evening. Speaking ahead of the trip to McDiarmid Park, Beale said: “There is another game tomorrow, we are a big club and there is always a disaster waiting around the corner, we can’t come off it, we are still trying to push consistency in the way that we play and in team selection.
READ MORE: We simulated St Johnstone vs Rangers to get a Scottish Cup score prediction with goals and red cards
“I think the relationships on the pitch are stronger, I don’t think it is that complex, if players play together a lot their understanding of each other is good. I like the way the team is playing, if you collaborate with them and get their opinion on the way the team is playing, and you go out and train and you drive the standards.
“Generally, I start from the position of strength, it is a fantastic football club, and it has got strong players in the country and league that we play in, my job is to try get some harmony and cohesion.
“We have managed to do that the last few weeks, but we are far from where I want us to be, we have still got quite a long way to go, having said that we are dominating possession and scoring goals which is a good sign.
“If we can tighten up on some moments where we are a little bit anxious then we will be alright, I prefer the team to bold in those moments, not on the back foot just stay on the front foot.”
St Johnstone XI: Matthews, Brown, Gordon, Considine, Montgomery, MacPherson, Phillips, Hallberg, Wright, May, McLennan
Subs: Parish, Mitchell, Murphy, Clark, Wotherspoon, Bair, Crawford, Carey, Gallacher
Rangers XI: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barisic, Lundstram, Jack, Tillman, Fashion JR, Kent, Morelos
Subs: McLaughlin, Colak, Kamara, Sands, Wright, Arfield, King, Devine, Lowry
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