Tonight, Rangers face Fraserburgh in the rearranged Scottish Cup 4th Round match at Bellslea Park. Thankfully, the Sky cameras will be there as scheduled for the postponed match. The weather won’t put the game in danger this time, and the fans now face a very long journey home late at night.
For Fraserburgh, the only match played since the postponement was at the weekend, where they won 6-1 against Forres Mechanics. They got goals from their top scorers this season, Paul Campbell and Gary Harris. Midfielder William West, who was at Aberdeen as a youth, has also been in good form. The nature of the match, with the small stadium and heavy pitch, will see the Fraserburgh players look to start fast and get in the faces of the Rangers players.
For Rangers, this game is very much a no-win situation. There’s a temptation to play something of a reserve team, but it’s dangerous. Unfortunately, Greg Docherty is unavailable, and James Tavernier is suspended. The Development Squad is in Spain, so the likes of Atakayi and Barjonas are not available either.
PREDICTED STARTING LINE UP
Alnwick
Hodson
Bates
Martin
John
Holt
Halliday
Candeias
Kranjcar
Murphy
Cummings
With all the speculation surrounding Morelos, and his need for a rest, I suspect he’ll not be involved. I’d imagine the club are looking to move Michael O’Halloran on, so they won’t want to cup-tie him for any interested Scottish sides. It may be that the team will go 4-4-2 and start Herrera with Cummings. There’s a lot of unknowns as we currently don’t know which players are being targeted by other clubs. If Cardoso is to stay, for example, it would be beneficial to give him a start. I also suspect Halliday will start in the place of Goss to give him game time.
With this game being played on deadline day, and the opposition not being the most glamorous, there’s a chance this game will be overshadowed by transfer news. At the time of writing, there’s no real updates on players leaving or being signed. However, I’d imagine news and rumours will be rife by the time you read this. If Cummings starts the game as is likely, the fans will look forward to a better look at him.
In terms of a prediction, I believe Rangers will win this match 4-0. Just as important will be the hope of avoiding any injuries before the Hibs game on Saturday, and any transfers which occur.
What’s your predictions for tonight? Tweet us @rangersnewsuk with your thoughts!