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PreMatch Analysis - St. Mirren versus Rangers Tuesday, 26 January 2010 01:50 Written by Nvager

St. Mirren versus Rangers at Greenhill Road, Paisley on Wednesday, January 27th., 2010. Kick-Off 7:45 PM.

Rangers remain top of the SPL after drawing at home with Hearts last Saturday. With all our injuries, this to some, was a reasonable result, but in my view it was 2 points lost.

Certainly we can make any number of excuses with many players, especially strikers missing, but we did have a 3.75m reserve striker available and that is more than any other club in the SPL can offer.

We need to win all these games whatever team we put out. Our players earn top dollar against nearly every side with the exception maybe of Celtic. Our resources are better or should be. Hearts had many players missing too.

We need to up our focus and concentration. No ball watching Sasa!. We need to play at a faster pace and the midfield needs to support the strike force better. We need players to perform to a higher standard. They are capable of it.

Our whole team can do much better if they apply themselves.

Our injury situation is not good but over the next few weeks a lot of players should be fit again. In 4 weeks we may well be at full strength. In the meantime players need to give 110% to make sure we retain our spot at the top of the table. Celtic are bringing in a few players whereas we cannot afford any. Their challenge will be tougher going forward. W need to match that in the only way we can - by top notch performances - a return to the form displayed in December.

In my opinion one of our greatest concerns just now is lack of pace and width. Our midfield has looked static. For some reason Davis, McCulloch, Thomson and Whittaker struggled mightily to perform as they can versus Hearts. Davis apart the remaining three are very predictable and lack pace. Whittaker sometimes surprises us, but can also be a lost cause. McCulloch and Thomson do not gel in central midfield.

With players injured Davis played wide right and Whittaker wide left. That is neither's best position although Davis has played there often and Whittaker scored 2 goals versus Hamilton. In my opinion we need Davis in the middle and pace out wide.

It appears Beasley and Naismith may be fit versus St. Mirren, but we cannot be sure. Naismith has been very poor this season anyway when fit and is not a winger.

If fit I would play Beasley wide and right and give Wylde a try on the left where he showed a lot of promise in his cameo appearance versus Hearts. I hope Novo is fit but at the moment it looks unlikely.

In central midfield then I would play Davis with probably McCulloch, but if Edu is fit I would be tempted to play him.

Up front we have a problem, but I would consider playing McCulloch there for his strength if nothing else. Fleck could partner him or Naismith if fit.

What to do with Lafferty? He seems lacking in confidence just now, but could again play up front. One goal may make a big difference to him. His confidence may jump and we may have a much better player on our hands. Who knows with him?

It is difficult to predict a team with so many questions. Will Mendes be fit enough to play? Even as a substitute. Naming a team is a bit iof a guess, but I will attempt it and will consider that Novo and Mendes are not fit enough to play at all. I will give Beasley and Naismith the benefit of the doubt. I will predict that Edu is fit to play, but will be on the bench..

Walter may start: McGregor, Broadfoot, Weir, Wilson, Papac, Beasley, Davis, Thomson/McCulloch, Wylde/Fleck, Lafferty and McCulloch/Naismith.

A lot of unknowns there, but time will tell.

Will we win? I am unsure. It will be tight. I predict a 2-1 win for Rangers.

We need to add urgency and pace to our display. That's what happened in December. Whoever plays up front must close down defenders quickly. That did not happen often enough versus Hearts.

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