Rangers head to Perth this weekend to face a St Johnstone team led by one of Scottish football’s most experienced campaigners in Craig Levein.
Gers boss Philippe Clement will be looking to maintain the current run of form that saw Ross County’s defence face a barrage of shots at goal under the Ibrox lights but he won’t have it all his own way.
With Rangers playing on Sunday, Celtic have a chance to put points on the board first with Levein fully aware of the challenge that his side faces, as told to Sky Sports.
Levein ready as on-form Rangers head to St Johnstone
Since the turn of the year, there has been a recurring theme under the former Scotland boss at the Saints.
Win or lose, their games never seem to be particularly expansive and they haven’t scored more than one goal since November – goalscoring is an issue.
Levein knows that St Johnstone are in for a tough afternoon against Rangers:
“They’ve got a bit of confidence, I mean, they had a ridiculous amount of shots on target the other day against Ross County.
“They’re obviously in really good form and at times, they can be quite direct and other times they play some quite good possession football.
“So, there is a mixture in there.
“They’ve got good pace in the team, they’ve got quality in delivering crosses.
“They’re a good side, hence the reason that they are sitting at the top end of the table.”
Against Ross County, it wasn’t just that Rangers were shooting from anywhere.
Even the long-range ones seemed to be the right decisions rather than being hit and hopes.
Levein might not know exactly what to expect from Philippe Clement but we all know how St Johnstone will set up and the pace and intensity that we have seen from this Rangers squad since the big Belgian arrived has to be maintained.
Throwing crosses into a packed box, however accurate they might be, will not make them uncomfortable.
Pressing high and forcing mistakes will be key in breaking down a team that gives little away.
There have been more than a few difficult trips to McDiarmid Park in the past, hopefully, a confident Rangers team make sure this isn’t another.
