St Johnstone v Rangers
The worries over Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson eased for the club yesterday after the cruel tackle which injured him before the end of the UEFA Cup game at Ibrox the other night.
Ferguson, despite the ankle knock he suffered, could be ready to play against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park tomorrow and he could be joined by the new #3.5m striker Stephane Guivarc'h, whose transfer from Newcastle was finalised yesterday.
The only remaining problems are the knee knock suffered by goalkeeper Lionel Charbonnier and the continuing injury worry over
Gordon Durie.
Yesterday at Ibrox, less than 24-hours after the European victory over Bayer Leverkusen, Rangers coach Dick Advocaat
confirmed: ''Barry Ferguson will probably be ready to play against St Johnstone. We shall take another look at him in training tomorrow and then we shall make our decision. But the injury is not as bad as we first thought.
''Charbonnier is different because his knee has required further examination and we must wait to see what the results are before we can say how long he may be out. Stephane Guivarc'h will be in the squad of players and, again, we shall look at him in training and then decide whether he will play or not.''
Added Guivarc'h: ''It is a long time since my last first team game at Newcastle - it was September 10 against Coventry I think - and so I am not 100 per cent match fit. However I am ready to play if the coach decides he wants me in the team.''
While Charbonnier, a newly installed fans favourite, will be missed, Rangers do have a more than capable deputy available in the Finnish internationalist Antti Niemi who took over against Leverkusen when the Frenchman was injured.
Advocaat's main concern is the tiredness of the players following so many games compressed into so short a period. He admits that he may have to change his team because of that.
He pointed out yesterday: ''The players are tired, there is no doubting that. We have had many important games and so we have been using the same players and that tells on them and now I may have to change things a little and rest some against St Johnstone.''
One who will not be rested, however, is the Dutch defender Arthur Numan, who recently returned after being out for a lengthy spell through injury.
Explained Advocaat: ''It is clear that Arthur needs more games to be back at his best but we saw how well he played the other night despite his lay off. It was more defensive than normal for him but he did well and he will be in the team to play on Sunday.''
Advocaat knows how well Saints have been playing this
season and he emphasised: ''I watched the game against Hearts, the semi-final game, on television and I was very impressed by the way St Johnstone played that night.
''They deserved to win that game. They have good midfield players, good attacking players and I know already that this will be a difficult game, especially as it is going to be on their own ground.''
The fact that Rangers defeated the Perth club 4-0 at Ibrox earlier in the season will have little
bearing on tomorrow's game.
Since then Saints have made a managerial change - Sandy Clark taking over from Paul Sturrock - and their confidence has been buoyed by their run to the final of the League Cup where, of course, they will meet tomorrow's opponents Rangers at Celtic Park at the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Paul Kane has warned his St Johnstone team- mates to forget all about the League Cup final with Rangers - or else face missing out on the glamour occasion altogether.
Kane said: ''The lads are playing out of their skins at the moment and it's not difficult to work out why.
''A lot of people are looking froward to the League Cup final but we must remember we have three crucial league games before the final.
''If we switch off before November 29 then some of us can forget all about playing, which perhaps explains why we are playing so well.''
He added: ''Nobody wants to miss a match at the moment because they know it will be difficult to get back in the team.
''Even training is more competitive now.''
BOOKIES' VIEW: St Johnstone 9-4, Rangers evens, draw 9-4.
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