John Brown tells Rangers what they need to do v Celtic in Scottish Cup Final
John Brown has urged his Rangers to start fast and maintain their discipline to have any chance of beating Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final on 25 May.
Brown has discussed what he believed to be the turning point in the last Old Firm derby defeat – John Lundstram’s red card.
Lundstram saw an initial booking for a rash challenge on Alistair Johnston upgraded to a red card by VAR, leaving the Gers down to 10 moments after making the scoreline 2-1 at Parkhead.
In quotes reported by Rangers Review, Brown said: “In these games, you have to have a calm head when everyone else is losing theirs. That’s good coming for me, but I never got sent off in any Old Firm games.
“Celtic have come out the blocks quickly in recent games and they’ve got at us.
“Every game we’ve played against them, they’ve come out the traps and we need to be ready. We need to try to get at them and put them off their stride.”
Rangers must be ruthless against Celtic in Scottish Cup Final
Rangers have a zero per cent win record against Celtic across four meetings this season, with only a frantic 3-3 draw at Ibrox to show for any of their efforts.
The other three matches have all ended Celtic’s way – each by a single goal – and if the Gers are to turn that tide at the national stadium, they must take their chances when presented.
Philippe Clement’s side have had issues in attack throughout the season, and although top-scorer Cyriel Dessers has netted 22 times in his debut campaign, he’s come under the most criticism for high-profile misses in big games.
No game in Scotland is bigger than an Old Firm derby, and given there’s not been one of those in a Scottish Cup Final for 22 years, the stakes are even higher, with Rangers looking to overcome the disappointment of their title challenge collapsing.
If Dessers can find his shooting boots, as he did in the semi-finals against Hearts, Clement’s side could finally get one over on Celtic this Saturday, but as Brown said, they must match the intensity brought by the recently-crowned champions at Hampden.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues are set to “make their money back” on Sam Lammers after a new Utrecht transfer update
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