Derek McInnes wants belief and trust from Ibrox crowd against Celtic
Derek McInnes wants Rangers to “bring the crowd with us” in Sunday’s Old Firm clash at Ibrox.
The anxiety from the Light Blues legions, which has been prevalent in some games in Govan, resurfaced on Wednesday night as the home side struggled in the second half of the William Hill Premiership clash against St Mirren after missing a host of chances before the break.
However, a pressure valve was released when substitute Bojan Miovski scored in stoppage time for a crucial 1-0 win to make it four victories in a row for McInnes and his side.
Only Rangers fans are allowed in the 50,000-capacity Ibrox for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Celtic at the order of the authorities amid a ticket allocation spat between the two Glasgow giants.
Former Rangers midfielder McInnes, looking forward to his first Old Firm game as boss, is hoping for positivity from the Gers supporters.
He said: “I think we’ve got to bring the crowd with us.
“You’re not going to play Celtic and dominate the game for 90 minutes. We’ll have spells, they’ll have spells, it’s just the way it is.
“I think it’s important that we tap into having that 50,000 behind us and be behind the players, support them, have their backs, not be on their backs and really make it as tough for Celtic as possible.
“We’ve got our part to play in that and I felt that if we can capitalise on good play and good opportunities, which we didn’t do last night and we didn’t do against Motherwell (also won 1-0) obviously, if we can get ourselves in front, give the crowd something to get behind, then I think the strength of our club can be shown.
“I think if the 50,000 can be utilised and we can have the strength of performance in the team that will help the team, it will be difficult to stop.
“There’s been a lot of frustration over a period of time at the club and it’s up to us to try and show that we’re going to deliver something a bit different.
“We recognise Celtic are a good team who have been the main title winners and the team that’s picked up more trophies than any other club in recent years.
“We just want to make sure that we give ourselves a chance to be relevant domestically again in terms of winning trophies, and Sunday gives us a chance to take a step towards that.”
Amid reports that out-of-favour defender John Souttar is set to join Greek side Aris Thessaloniki, McInnes said: “I spoke to John this morning, he trained.
“There’s a bit of interest in him from one or two clubs. One club maybe a bit further down the line than the other but I think it’s something that could develop.
“I don’t think it’s at that stage yet but maybe something will happen over the next two or three days.”
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