FRAN -----------BY VITAL FOOTBALL -McCoist Delighted With Semi Final Place Manager Ally McCoist has said he was delighted to see two Murray Park youngsters combine to put Rangers into the semi finals of the League Cup this season. A late second half goal from Lewis Macleod who finished on 86 minutes from a Fraser Aird delivery gave Rangers a hard fought, but the manager believed a deserved, victory over St Johnstone last night. Speaking to the Official Site following the game, the gaffer explained. Im delighted and so proud of the boys, particularly after the second half. I thought the first half was just a solid, dour cup tie and there was not a lot better the teams. They had a header and Boydy had a great chance but I thought second half we were the better side by a considerable margin and we got what we deserved with five minutes to go with a wonderfully worked goal and a terrific finish. McCoist goes on to say that for him it was a magic goal and a goal deserving of a semi final Cup place and he of course had greater delight because it was two youngsters who created it. So it was made in Murray Park which was great. With the draw on Saturday now, Rangers eagerly await their semi final opponents and he said that even though Celtic would have to be most peoples favourites for the competition, he felt the remaining three sides that remain more than have a fighting chance to go all the way because Cup competitions do bring underdog upsets and of course our aim, like always, is to try and win it regardless. One downside to the game was the second half substitution of goalkeeper Steve Simonsen who took a nasty head knock off the woodwork and was immediately taken to hospital as a precaution. A concerned McCoist said of that. He took a sore one, and hes off to hospital. Obviously its very concerned, he made a good save and hes given himself a real whack against the post. McCoist says you can always tell the severity of an issue on the pitch because of how a players colleagues react, and as soon as Simonsen went down he saw Boydy and big Lee ordering the physios and doctors on immediately. The doc said hes coming round but hes sent him to hospital and hopefully thats just precautionary. I would, however, be loathed to make any comment until the people in the hospital have actually seen him, but obviously its still concerning. At best it was just a good concussion and Simonsen will soon be back on his feet again, but you would now expect him to miss the next match regardless just for safety reasons and give him time to fully recover, especially as the authorities are now far more focused on head injuries. With Lee Robinson coming on in his place, with Cammy Bell out, if Simonsen does miss the Scottish Cup Dumbarton clash, McCoist said that he would be looking to draft up either Liam Kelly or Robby McCrorie from our development squad as back up. As I say it would be wrong of me to preempt a situation, well wait and see how Steve is and obviously we wish him well. Speaking earlier today about Simonsens condition, the gaffer confirmed that he was as well as we could have hoped for the morning after and his condition had certainly improved overnight and the scans he had were all good and positive, but obviously he remains a doubt.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 10:21:56 +0000