THE SCENARIO may be different from what he envisaged, but Aberdeen's
most recent acquisition, John Inglis, has been through the kind of
testing demands that the club faces as it tries to climb away from the
bottom of the table, writes Ian Paul.
And if he did not anticipate such a situation when he joined the club,
the fact is that Inglis' experience could prove invaluable in the weeks
to come, maybe starting today when the Pittodrie side visit Motherwell.
''There is no kidding anyone now,'' he said, ''after three straight
defeats. The penny has dropped, but it has taken landing on the bottom
of the league for it to happen. The players have to get serious about it
now. Most of them have never exerienced this before and they know that
sheer ability will not take them out of it.
''We have got to scrap for every ball and fight for every point. The
sooner we do this the better.''
The #400,000 defender was relegated with St Johnstone last season, and
the final blow was delivered by Motherwell.
Aberdeen will again be without injured Scotland striker Scott Booth
and defender Colin Woodthorpe looks certain to miss out with a strained
back.
Motherwell manager Alex McLeish has a full squad from which to choose,
all of them looking forward to Saturday again. ''As for me, the training
is great but the hard bit to endure is the 90 minutes on the touchline
on match day.''
Rangers, the team Motherwell are chasing, will have a busy time
themselves at Kilmarnock where the locals have begun to get the results
their play earlier in the season should have produced.
They have gone seven games with only one defeat since they last met
the Ibrox side, and manager Alex Totten will make sure that the side is
geared for a big push to maintain that fine record. Tom Black is added
to the squad but Tom Brown is suspended.
Rangers will probably have Craig Moore in the team to replace
suspended Basile Boli, although the young Australian has a slight ankle
knock. But it seems unlikely that manager Walter Smith will risk striker
Ally McCoist, even if the international star has recovered from the
hamstring knock he suffered last week.
''The team will be on similar lines,'' said Smith who wants to see a
continuation of the tremendous form shown when they beat Dundee United
3-0. ''Kilmarnock have changed personnel and took time to settle, but
they have played very well in recent weeks.''
Hibs striker Darren Jackson has two reasons for wanting to help his
team to beat Falkirk at Easter Road. First, he knows the three points
could be invaluable in his team's bid to get closer to Rangers at the
top, and second, he would like to impress national manager Craig Brown
before he joins the squad to meet Greece in Athens a week tomorrow.
Falkirk will have old-timer John Burridge in goal again -- he once
played for Hibs, too -- and add Nicky Henderson and Graeme Hunter to the
squad.
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