It’s not about the defeats in football, it’s about how you react to them and make sure you limit them to just a few.

Rangers were flying high at the start of this campaign. They’ve managed to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League for a second year running and were undefeated in the Scottish Premiership after winning their opening three games.

Then just before the international break Rangers were floored by city rivals Celtic as the Premiership champions went to Ibrox and handed Steven Gerrard’s men a 2-0 loss (Sky Sports Match Report).

There’s nothing worse than losing to your closest rivals and then having two weeks to mull over the defeat.

Too many times last season, Rangers dropped points. That means this term they can’t let their confidence slip just because they’ve lost for the first time. They need to show that they can take a bad result and recover as soon as possible.

On Saturday, The Gers host Livingston and it’s a game that the Govan men probably need to win as they won’t want to let Celtic get further away in the league and they won’t want other sides smelling blood.

Livi won’t be the easiest of opponents though. Gary Holt’s men are just a point behind Rangers in the league after enjoying another strong start to a top flight campaign.

They haven’t thus far missed the defensive spine of Liam Kelly, Craig Halkett and Declan Gallagher who all departed the West Lothian club this summer. While in attack they’ve scored eight times so far this season and that’s just one less than Rangers.

So the Ibrox club will have to be disciplined both at the back and up top if they are going to keep a cleansheet and breakdown the Livi defence.

The Gers team also have an important Europa League fixture coming up against Feyenoord next week. They can’t allow that attractive tie to distract them from the importance of getting their league campaign back on track.

Rangers reacted to their Old Firm defeat by going out and bringing back Ryan Kent. The Glasgow giants agreed a £7m deal to sign Kent from Liverpool on a permanent basis (From The Evening Standard).

Kent was on loan at Ibrox last season and his form won him the Young Player of the Year award in Scotland. The forward is hoping to carry on from where he left off from last season.

Gerrard has stated that the winger could play this weekend but also warned that he may not be fully match fit yet:

“He is available for selection this weekend which is great but we have to appreciate the limited game time he has had.”

(Source Football Scotland)

That signing and Kent’s presence within the first team squad on Saturday could be a huge boost that gets the fans buzzing in the stands.

The crowd could be a big factor in what happens against Livingston. It may have been flat after the loss to Celtic, especially after the poor Gers performance. But with Ryan Kent back in Blue that support could be rocking from the get go and that could get into the minds of the Livi players.

Rangers need to win on Saturday, to show that they have the mental strength to get over the loss to Celtic and show everyone that they’re going to challenge this season.

Lose and people will dismiss them once again!

Posted on September 13th, 2019 by scott
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