Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell says his side’s chances of causing an upset against Rangers might come down to a moment of quality.
Kettlewell has been inspired to an extent by St Mirren’s 2-1 win over the Ibrox giants in Paisley on Boxing Day, but says Motherwell have to take the game to Rangers in the first place.
And the Fir Park gaffer says Rangers’ fourth defeat in an already challenging season will mean Philippe Clement’s side will arrive in ML1 with a point to prove.
Kettlewell said: “I think we’ve done all right against Rangers and Celtic in my time, I think we have always carried a threat.
“Sometimes you ride your luck in there, sometimes there’s a moment of quality in your defending as well, not just hitting the back of the net.
“We all know that’s not going to be sustained for 90 minutes, but it’s ensuring you can have that composure and emotional intelligence to pick off the right moments and see if you can execute it.
“I think that was the case with St Mirren’s winner – it was a moment of quality, but we’ve been OK at that, playing against Rangers and Celtic through my time.
“I’m always confident that it’s there, it’s just trying to make sure we execute it.”
Kettlewell added: “We all know through Scottish football what the demands then become on Rangers or Celtic, or whatever it might be.
“We played against Celtic on Boxing Day [4-0 defeat], they had dropped points against Dundee United, and always the demands are that they win the next game of football.
“That’s exactly how it will sit with Rangers, the demands of the players, and the management there will be that the supporters will want them to win the next game.
“I understand that, I get that, but I don’t think we can concentrate on that too much.
“I think we understand that’s the reaction that will be required from them, we have to focus on what our game-plan is and how we set out.
“To make sure that we impose ourselves, and don’t just stand there and wait to see whether Rangers are going to give us a reaction or not.
“That we can actually try and take the game towards them, and create some problems for them.”