MATCH PREVIEW: Forfar Athletic v Rangers
[Friday, 20 September 2013 15:58]
Who would ever have imagined that Rangers would be visiting Station Park for the second time this season already with the campaign barley eight weeks old with a third still to come, but that is indeed the case this Sunday.
No Forfar fan is ever likely to forget the League Cup win over the Ibrox side seven weeks back, but realism will kick in over the weekend with the already runaway leaders of League One due back in town with at least six if not more new faces in their ranks from the early season game.
Goalkeeper Cammy Bell as well as Bilel Mohsni, Richard Foster, Nicky Law, Jon Daly and Nicky Clarke who all sat out the August encounter have featured in first team starting action over the last week for Ally McCoist’s side as they recorded their fifth straight league win, netting five second half goals into the bargain against Arbroath last Saturday. They followed this up with a 3-0 success at Dumfries on Tuesday night to reach the semi-final stage of the Ramsdens Cup.
The man in form however is undoubtedly skipper Lee Mcculloch who netted successive league hat-tricks against East Fife and the ‘Lichties.’
The home side though will go into the fixture in confident mood themselves having returned to winning ways with a well earned and deserved success at Methil last week, a match which saw Gavin Swankie return to the score sheet.
Apart from the four longer term injuries that Dick Campbell has had to cope with over recent weeks, the remainder of his pool are fighting fit and in buoyant mood at training on Thursday night, eagerly anticipating Sunday’s televised clash.
The Sky Sports entourage have already started assembling at and around the ground some 48 hours before kick off adding a real buzz to the area around Carseview already.
The weather forecast is favourable with sunshine and a temperature of around sixteen degrees on the horizon, so hopefully this will encourage a late surge in home support ticket sales.
The match which has a 12.45 pm kick-off is sponsored by Orchard Timber Products and the match referee is the experienced John McKendrick