Michael Beale admits Rangers can’t afford to put a foot wrong if they are to sidestep Celtic and salvage their season.
The Ibrox side’s last remaining hopes of landing a trophy will be on the line when they square off against their bitter rivals tomorrow for a place in the Scottish Cup final. The holders' Hampden hopes are set to be boosted by the return of Connor Goldson and Ryan Kent from injury. But Light Blues boss Beale knows a repeat of the calamitous and costly errors his side made at Celtic Park three weeks ago will present Ange Postecoglou’s team with a golden Treble chance.
The Londoner declared: “It’s a huge game, there’s no doubt. The season’s been a rough ride for the fans, I think, and this is a chance for us to put a few wrongs right in this game. It is just one game but I think it would have a big impact on the season if we could win and go back to a Scottish Cup Final.
“We just need to bring the best of ourselves. The games have been reasonably tight, and they’ve been won and lost on mistakes. It’s important that we bring our best effort, our best performance. In the penalty boxes, that will be decisive. The game a couple of weeks ago, I thought we performed quite well overall. But we’ve got to eradicate a few things in defence.”
Beale knows its vital Gers cut out the mistakes and he’s hoping the return of Goldson will bolt up a backline left gaping at Parkhead. The Ibrox side have recorded 12 clean sheets when the Englishman has been available compared to just one shut-out when he hasn’t featured.
Beale said: “Conor Goldson trained today, Scott Wright trained today and Ryan Kent did as well. It’s just a case of seeing if they come through OK. Obviously they’ve all been out for two or three weeks.
“I think the centre-back position has had a lot of impact on our season with the amount of games that Connor has missed. He is our vice captain, he is a big voice on the pitch and when he plays the results for the team and points per game and everything goes up.
“So it is nice to have him back. It has been great to have John Souttar back for the last three or four weeks, at times he has performed well in the games as well.
“If that is a sign moving forward, again that gives us some strength and the most important thing for me is stability in the team in key positions – goalkeeper, centre back, number nine. Possibly this year that hasn’t been the case.”
Meanwhile, Beale is hoping the Hampden pitch will be in a better state than when Gers last visited the national stadium for February’s Viaplay Cup Final. The rutted surface was left badly rutted after January’s semi-finals and was still in a shocking state by the time the Light Blues fell to Postecoglou’s team six weeks later.
But with Inverness and Falkirk squaring off on the same pitch on Saturday, Beale has his concerns. “There have been quite a lot of games on the pitch in the last few weeks, various cup finals and whatnot,” said the Ibrox gaffer.
“Listen I get the scheduling. The games have to be the same weekend. But when I saw the rain this morning and into the afternoon, I was a little bit concerned. You hear the national team players speaking about it after the Spain game.
"That was a good few weeks ago, so you’re hoping the pitch might have improved. We could do with some good weather overnight before the first semi-final.”
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