Cowdenbeath manager Jimmy Nicholl insists his side will be in more than capable hands in his absence at Ibrox this afternoon.
Nicholl will not be in the dugout due to his new-found commitments with Northern Ireland in Belfast, but the Fife club’s boss has been preparing his players as normal all week with assistant Lee Makel taking care of match day duties.
Makel, of course, has years of coaching experience under his belt, having been player coach at Norwegian side Ostersunds in 2009/10 before joining Cowden as number two under Colin Cameron in 2011, so Nicholl is confident his national role will not impinge on what happens at club level.
Ahead of today’s test, the Blue Brazil may have lost twice so far this season to Rangers but they can boast a decent enough record against them, having narrowly gone down 1-0 on their last visit to Ibrox before holding them to a 0-0 draw at Central Park last time out a result made all the better by the fact they had shipped 10 goals to Hearts the previous week.
Judging by their win over Hibs last week, Rangers may be an entirely different proposition under Stuart McCall, but Nicholl has urged his players to look after their own business with precious points in their fight to avoid the drop at stake.
“We are at the real business end of the season now and points are needed to ensure we can win the contest for eighth place against Alloa and Livingston,” he commented.
“But we will have to stop the unforced errors which have been all too regular happenings for us over the past few weeks.
“You cannot keep giving goals away as easily as we have been doing and expecting to get results, so we need a big improvement.
“Concentration levels are so important and we must lift ours.”
Cowden will be without defender Kenny Adamson after his straight red card in midweek, with his dismissal at Falkirk meaning he misses today’s game and the return game against the Bairns on Tuesday.
Dean Brett is likely to remain out with an ankle injury, while on loan John Herron is still expected to be sidelined for the rest of the season with a more severe ankle problem.