Röhl: Rangers ready for nine cup finals in title race

Rangers head coach Danny Röhl understands “it’s all about winning” as his side face “nine cup finals” in the Scottish Premiership title race – ahead of Sunday’s visit to St Mirren live on Sky Sports.

The Ibrox club are third in the table, six points off leaders Hearts and one point behind Old Firm rivals Celtic.

While there has been significant improvement since Röhl’s arrival in Glasgow, Rangers have won just one of their last five matches and haven’t won away from home since beating then-managerless Aberdeen at Pittodrie on 11 January.

After disappointment in back-to-back Old Firm games, all the usual questions of this Rangers side’s character and mentality have been asked.

They threw away a 2-0 lead in the league meeting two weeks ago before losing out on penalties in the Scottish Cup on Sunday – that was despite their rivals failing to register a shot on target in 120 minutes.

Unlucky? Maybe, but Röhl knows there is no more room for error or misfortune if they are to finish the season with silverware.

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“When you compare the result with the performance, then you see that we did a lot of good things. We couldn’t score with a lot of opportunities. I think that was a big part,” the German told Sky Sports News.

“We are really well organised. We gave them not one opportunity against us. These are good things.

“But now we come to a time of the season where you have to really go in nine cup finals and that’s all about results.

“It’s all about winning, winning games, and taking the three points because this is the only chance to reduce the gap in the title race.

“This is what we are looking for, and we prepare during the week, and hopefully on Sunday we take the win and a good performance.”

Röhl: Players are not down or scared

If the league draw was a psychological blow, the Scottish Cup shoot-out defeat was a sucker punch.

Some of these players have seen this movie before; the fans certainly have.

For the third time in the past five seasons, Rangers went into the final pre-split Old Firm game within at least three points of their rivals, and failed to win.

In 2021/22 under Giovanni van Bronckhorst and in 2023/24 under Philippe Clement, their league campaigns derailed thereafter.

Röhl must now prove his Rangers side are different if they are to put up a title fight.

“It’s our job to bring the momentum back, this final bit is what we need,” said the Ibrox boss.

“I have not got a feeling that my players are really down in the case of the direction, that they are scared for the next game.

“It’s more about that we want to show in the next game that we can win again and this is exactly what we need.

“These nine cup finals for me are crucial and I see how we train, how we play, how we are connected, how we find each other.

“I see the steps forward and I see especially that we can win these games.”

A new face in the opposite dugout

Sunday’s opponents St Mirren will be without manager Stephen Robinson, who has switched Paisley for Pittodrie to become the permanent successor to Jimmy Thelin at Aberdeen.

Under-19s coach Craig McLeish will lead the team instead, assisted by head of youth Allan McManus and goalkeeping coach Jamie Langfield.

“Yeah, I think it could [have an impact] in both directions. I think he [Stephen Robinson] did a great job with his group in St Mirren,” added Röhl.

“He was successful, he’s again in the semi-final in the cup. I think they will carry on, let’s see who takes it. I think it will be the caretaker from the academy, that’s what we heard so far.

“We don’t know what happens in detail but it’s all about us. We need a good performance, we need a good intensity, we have to be clinical and ruthless in both boxes, and if we do this then there’s a great opportunity to take the next three points.”

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com