Those who hope to see us still at the top of the SPL table on Monday morning will point to our convincing early season form and the settled nature of our first choice eleven. Lasley has served his suspension and will resume his partnership with Jennings in midfield. Hateley, no doubt still smiling after his last gasp winner against St Mirren, will probably move to the right of the back four and our usual formation will be complete.
Rangers will still be smarting from their poor defensive performance in their Europa League tie in Slovenia but McCoist is still building his team and it’s anyone’s guess what eleven they will field. Edu is suspended and both Ness and Bartley must be doubtful after their failure to make the start on Thursday. We are bound to see a few new faces and six new players have been signed by the Ibrox side this summer. The latest, Bedoya and Bocanegro, will still be living out of suitcases after signing this week.
The game kicks off at the unusual time of 2.15pm thanks to the whim of E$PN. The effect of live TV on attendances at Fir Park is well known and the days of a guaranteed full house when Rangers arrive are long gone. A price of £25 for the majority of the seats does nothing to encourage fans (home or away) to attend and it’s a pity that the club doesn’t take the obvious step of backing the manager when he pleads for a big home support to back the team.
Despite our position on top of the table the bookies have us at 5/1 for the win but a more realistic flutter might be had for a 14/5 draw. We’ll be looking for the victory but might settle for a 1-1.
Remember the last time Rangers were at Fir Park?