Tonight's Team News

 

ALLY MCCOIST has made two changes from the team that started against Queen of the South two weeks ago for tonight’s Championship game against Raith Rovers.

Fraser Aird returns for the Light Blues on the right side of midfield with Arnold Peralta dropping to the bench. Ian Black also gets the nod in the centre of midfield with Marius Zaliukas also named as one of the seven subs.

With Cammy Bell currently recovering from injury Steve Simonsen again starts between the posts and in front of the Englishman is a back four of Darren McGregor, Bilel Mohsni, Lee McCulloch and Lee Wallace.

In the middle of the park Aird will be asked to use his pace on the right wing while Lewis Macleod will feature in front of Wallace on the left flank. In the engine room Black is joined by Nicky Law.

Up top Kris Boyd will again look to link up with Nicky Clark but Rangers have further firepower on the bench with Jon Daly named in the 18-man squad for the first time this season.

Also joining Daly, Zaliukas and Peralta on the subs bench this evening is keeper Lee Robinson, Stevie Smith, David Templeton and Dean Shiels.

RANGERS: Simonsen; McGregor, Mohsni, McCulloch, Wallace; Aird, Black, Law, Macleod; Clark, Boyd
SUBS: Robinson, Zaliukas, Daly, Smith, Templeton, Peralta, Shiels
 

great performance from the Rangers tonight - follow, follow

Yep, Rangers were different class tonight. The final score doesn't come close to reflecting the level of their superiority.

 

Raith Rovers 0-4 Rangers



RANGERS turned on the style in Kirkcaldy as they convincingly beat Grant Murray’s Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park to move to the top of the Championship table.

Superb first-half goals from Nicky Clark, Ian Black and Nicky Law put the Light Blues in a commanding position at the break and Lee McCulloch’s penalty in the second half secured the visitors’ sixth win on the bounce.

Raith had enjoyed a positive start to their league campaign, taking nine points from a possible 12, but they were no match for the League One champions this evening and Ally McCoist will be thrilled with the way his side performed at one of the trickier away venues in the division.

Every player in blue put in a great shift but goalscorer Clark was again a stand-out with his tenacious, hard-working display and it was just unfortunate he had to go off in the 70th minute with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

The striker never gave centre backs Paul Watson and Ross Perry a break and his link up play with Kris Boyd, who himself was incredibly unlucky not to score as well, was a highlight from the night.

After the recent international break McCoist made two changes from the side that started against Queen of the South two weeks ago at Ibrox with Fraser Aird featuring on the right wing and Ian Black joining Nicky Law in the middle of the park.

The pristine Stark’s Park pitch could not have been in better condition for the visit of the Light Blues and having not faced Rangers in a league match in 17 years there was an electric atmosphere in the ground prior to referee Brian Colvin’s first whistle.

The Raith players were certainly fired up for the match and their work-rate in the early stages of this contest showed why they had had a positive start to the 2014/15 campaign.

The sprinkling of water on the playing surface helped to retain the high tempo although it took until the 16th minute for a keeper to be tested.

Aird received the ball on the right and although he had options in front of him he elected to cut inside before unleashing a powerful drive which Ross Laidlaw did well to palm away.

On 16 minutes the first goal arrived and it was Aird who provided the assist. His accurate cross was perfect for Clark who glanced an unstoppable header into the bottom corner of the net to make it 1-0.

The striker clearly enjoyed the moment as he celebrated with his team-mates and the goal came at a good time as Rangers started to get a grip of proceedings.

With the game opening up gaps started to appear and on 32 minutes a curling effort from Lewis Macleod from a wide angle had to be flicked past the post by Laidlaw.

You felt a second goal was coming and on 38 minutes Rangers had doubled their advantage. A slack pass inside from Raith skipper Jason Thomson went straight to Boyd who slipped the ball inside to Black in acres of space.

With no defenders going out to him the midfielder let fly from 25 yards and a wicked deflection off Paul Watson sent the ball looping over the helpless Laidlaw.

Rangers were now rampant and 60 seconds later Law made it 3-0 with a moment of magic. He received the ball on the 18-yard line and after taking a quick glance towards goal he curled a right foot shot into the top corner of the net to send the ecstatic bears wild yet again.

At half-time they applauded their team as they walked towards the tunnel and while the Rangers players looked full of energy the Raith players cut dejected figures with another 45 minutes ahead.

At the start of the second period their night should have got even worse with Lee Wallace blasting over before Boyd shot agonisingly wide when he was through one-on-one with the keeper.

It was relentless pressure from the visitors and when Boyd met Lee Wallace’s cross with 54 minutes on the clock, Laidlaw made a stunning save to deny the Gers number 15.

Every time Rangers pushed up the park they looked capable of scoring and when Clark released Boyd down the left he then produced a great back post cross but Raith’s busy goalie was there again to make a fine stop from Nicky’s header.

Clark’s night was to end prematurely as he hobbled off on 70 minutes appearing to hold his hamstring.

A minute later and Rangers were awarded a penalty after Lee Wallace had been brought down in the box after one of his many powerful runs forward.

Boyd clearly wanted to take the spot-kick, and the Rangers fans wanted him to take it as well, but McCulloch was having none of it and the super skipper found the corner of the net with a typically ruthless finish.

With 13 minutes left there was a further boost for Gers as Jon Daly made his first appearance of the season when he replaced Macleod.

The perfect end to a great night would have been to see the big striker get on the score sheet after his injury hell but it wasn’t to be although his return to fitness is yet another massive boost for Rangers as they prepare to welcome Premiership high flyers Inverness to Ibrox on Tuesday night.

RAITH ROVERS (4-4-1-1): Laidlaw; Thomson, Perry, Watson, McKeown; Scott, Moon, Fox, Conroy; Vaughan (Anderson 59); Stewart

SUBS NOT USED: McGurn, Elliot, Callachan, Ellis, Robertson, Bates

RANGERS (4-4-2): Simonsen; McGregor, Mohsni, McCulloch, Wallace; Aird, Black, Law, Macleod (Daly 77); Clark (Templeton 70), Boyd (Shiels 77)

SUBS NOT USED: Robinson, Smith, Zaliukas, Peralta

GOALS: Clark 16, Black 38, Law 39, McCulloch 71pen

REF: Brian Colvin

ATT: 6,250

a performance like that against Inverness would be a good indicator of how the team is really developing - tonight was excellent, great tempo, sharp passing, great workrate from everyone even at 4-0 - I'm glad for Ally as it may quieten his detractors for a while

Good win and performance.