Lundstram demands no Rangers complacency ahead of cup tie
Rangers will start their Scottish Cup campaign for the season this evening (21 January) as they host Stirling Albion at Ibrox in the round of 32.
The Gers were surprisingly knocked out of the competition at the quarter-final stage last season when they were undone by in a penalty shootout.
Midfielder John Lundstram does not want to see the same kind of complacency tonight as was evident on that day with fourth division opposition on their way to Glasgow.
“We will prepare for the game exactly like we would prepare for any game. We’ll prepare for this one like we’ll prepare for the Dortmund game,” Lundstarm said, as quoted by the Daily Record.
“It’s going to be a tough game. We’re at home and we’ve got to be the ones who go implement what we want to do.
“I’m sure if we have the right attitude and the right mentality we’ll win the game.
“But you’ve got to implant that and it will be a difficult game for us if we don’t.
“We know how important it will be for Stirling coming to Ibrox, it will be a massive occasion for them. I know if I was in their shoes I’d be raring to go. We’ve got to match that, definitely.”
No resting on laurels
It could be easy for the current Scottish champions, undefeated in the process, and league leaders in the Scottish Premiership to be relaxed ahead of a game against a mid-table fourth-tier side.
But weirder things have happened in football than a Stirling Albion victory at Ibrox and Lundstram is bang on when he says it needs to be treated like any other fixture.
This kind of mismatch tends to be a ‘lose-lose’ kind of game for the big side and the banana skin is as slippy as it ever is when such underdogs ride into town.
But Giovanni van Bronckhorst doesn’t strike you as a manager who will accept playing the youth team in the hope of squeezing through to the next round.
One would expect Rangers to field a strong side even if it isn’t at full strength as they would like as little stress as possible in progressing to the round of 16.
In other Rangers news, this Ibrox-bound star has been branded as “world-class” by one of his teammates.