Under Pressure

[Rangers Football Club 0]

SMITH sure there's no chance of complacency setting in at Gers

 

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By Andrew Dickson

 

UNBEATEN in nine league games, as many points clear in the championship and with a goal difference 17 better than that of closest challengers Celtic.

 

Things are looking rosy for Rangers as they look to defend their SPL crown - yet Light Blues manager Walter Smith insists his men are the ones under most pressure.

 

Of course, the advantage Gers have over their Old Firm rivals might not be quite as emphatic as it appears.

 

Tony Mowbray's team still has a game in hand to play against Kilmarnock and should the Parkhead men win in Ayrshire, their deficit will be reduced to six points.

 

Even though that would still be a healthy lead in the Ibrox outift's favour with less than four months of the season to go, it certainly wouldn't be unassailable.

 

Going into January last year, it was Celtic - then managed by Gordon Strachan - who were seven points ahead in the title race.

 

Yet Rangers surged back with eight wins in their last nine games to take the trophy for the first time since 2005 by four points.

 

The year before, it was Smith's players who held a similar cushion going into 2008 - only for a backlog of games to catch up with them and deprive them of the silverware.

 

Past outcomes have shown that while being ahead at this point helps, it doesn't always lead to celebrations at the end of a campaign.

 

And with Gers having everything to lose and Celtic desperate to gain at their expense, Smith is adamant his men won't become complacent.

 

He said: "I don't think there's any danger of that happening because we know what's at stake.

 

"People are saying there's a nine-point difference but I never look at it that way. Any club with an opportunity to get that gap down would be expected to reduce it.

 

"What we have done is created a genuine six-point gap and at this stage of the season, it's a far better situation than we were in last year.

 

"But the pressure is on us to once again show the same consistency we displayed towards the end of last term.

 

"We have to look at that more than anything else. Points gaps just now don't matter, it's what we do going forward that counts.

 

"Celtic had a seven-point advantage around this stage a year ago and with a good level of consistency, we cut that back.

 

"The gap we have now certainly isn't a big one. People forget that when the Old Firm play each other, they are big matches and they could go the wrong way for us.

 

"We have two of them to play between now and the end of the season, along with another load of tough matches.

 

"Against Hamilton on Saturday, we were fortunate to come out on top and that shows us how tough it's going to be.

 

"When you look at our squad and what we've still got to do, we might well need that gap we have just now if things are going to go in our favour in the championship.

 

"We are the ones under pressure. That's always the case when you're trying to achieve good results.

 

"Going into Saturday's game there, we didn't have enough substitutes to fill the bench and that brings problems.

 

"We still have a situation where the suspension of certain players could kick in and that could have a major effect.

 

"We've run at an average of four injuries since the start of the season so we're by no means home and dry and there's a lot to lose.

 

"The gap we have to our advantage isn't something that we can allow to lead to complacency. We just need to keep working hard and striving for positive results."

Edited January 21, 2010 by Super_Ally