Rangers are currently four points clear at the top of the league and are coming to Fir Park in the middle of a three away match run. They had their work cut out on Sunday and it took a late goal by Ronald de Boer to edge a 2-1 win at Firhill. Thistle gave them a fright, will we be able to go one step further?
Will young Cowan get the nod?
The honest answer is probably not, but you never know. If Rangers have an off day – and let’s face it, you can easily imagine a few of their multi-million pound stars not fancying a frozen Fir Park on Boxing Day – while we play to our full potential, a win is not beyond us. We turned in a stirring performance to defeat Celtic at Fir Park and that result made Scottish football take note. Rangers will be aware they cannot take us lightly.
Terry Butcher will be without Shaun Fagan who is suspended but Stephen Pearson will return as a straight swap. David Partridge is also available and he may come in to the side to form a back three with Kinniburgh and Corrigan. This would mean someone else dropping out – probably Stevie Ferguson, leaving McFadden to play alongside Dirk Lehmann.
Paul Quinn has performed admirably in his last two games but if David Cowan is fit he will be an almost automatic choice for the right wing back position. Cowan made his debut against Lovenkrands at Ibrox and did well. Since then, he has made steady progress and looks very comfortable on the ball.
As if it was needed, the game will be given a bit more spice by the return of Alex McLeish. He has only managed Rangers once at Fir Park – his first game was a 2-2 draw – but had previously won with Hibs. Will we be able to frustrate Ginger once again? We’ll put up some resistance but it won’t quite be enough and we’ll lose 3-1.