SPL weekend preview
by Brian Etherson, 16 May 2008
The top half of The SPL play catch-up this weekend as Motherwell play host to Rangers and it really has turned out to be a massive fixture for Walter Smith’s side as they can close the gap on Celtic to one point and use it as a platform to leapfrog their city rivals when they play St Mirren on Monday night.
Inverness, Kilmarnock and Falkirk all bring the curtain down on their campaign at the weekend and St Mirren will do so likewise when they meet Rangers on Monday night which is live on Setanta Sports at 7:45pm.
Motherwell v Rangers (Setanta Sports 1, 12:30pm)
This will be the fifth meeting between the two sides and if the previous encounters are anything to go by, this will be another cracker of a game.
Rangers have won two of the three SPL games already and the Fir Park side are looking for their first home win in nine games against Rangers whose last defeat away to The Steelmen came in December 2002.
Motherwell’s best run of the season started on November 3 with a 1-1 draw against St Mirren and finished with a 3-0 victory over Aberdeen. During that period they conceded just two goals and kept four clean sheets in the six games played.
They have not been so fortunate in their last five outings as they have conceded ten goals and scored six, which does not tell the whole story even though it does suggest a real lack of consistency.
Rangers’ last league defeat was against Celtic and since then they have gone unbeaten in their last three games, winning two and drawing one against Hibernian.
This incredibly will be Rangers’ 65th game of the season and they still have another three to go after the clash with Motherwell on Saturday.
This is a daunting task for Mark McGhee’s side as Rangers have scored 30 goals away from home in The SPL and do not concede too many on the road either, 20 to be precise, so with Motherwell’s inability to defend set-pieces I would not be at all surprised if Walter Smith will target their Achilles heel and look to break down the Lanarkshire side in that manner.
Out of all the teams in the league, Motherwell’s defensive record puts them in fourth spot behind Gretna, Inverness and Hearts which will not impress Mark McGhee one bit.
Bob Malcolm is suspended for the game and apart from that, the Fir Park boss has a squad with a clean bill of health.
No doubt Walter Smith will ring the changes after their exertions against Zenit St Petersburg and they will want to put the game beyond their hosts as quickly as possible as they face four crucial games in the space of seven days.
Lee McCulloch, Nacho Novo and Daniel Cousin may all be reinstated to the starting line-up.
Kilmarnock v Falkirk
Kilmarnock welcome Falkirk for the final game of the season which has turned out to be one of the most difficult Jim Jefferies has had to deal with in his managerial career and regardless of the final result at 4:45pm on Saturday, The Bairns know they will finish on top of the bottom half of the table equalling last season’s record.
John Hughes will bring his side to Rugby Park on a high after beating Hearts and Inverness 2-1 in their last two games, but they will face a Kilmarnock side aiming to bring down the curtain with a victory that will give them back-to-back wins for the second time this season.
Kilmarnock have lost just three of their last ten games and with four clean sheets into the bargain Falkirk will have to work hard to claim all three points and it should prove to be a decent game to finish the season with for the two clubs.
Out of the 139 previous league meetings between the two sides, Kilmarnock have a slight edge over Falkirk with 52 wins. Falkirk can lay claim to 43 victories over the Ayrshire team and there have been 44 draws.
The three previous encounters this season have been low scoring affairs with just three goals and Falkirk’s Carl Finnigan has scored both goals for The Bairns.
Kilmarnock have no fresh injury problems ahead of the game and their squad will be very similar to that of last week’s game against Hearts.
Paul Di Giacomo could well start the game after his goal last week secured the 2-0 win over Jim Jefferies’ old side, but the Killie boss is more than likely to start with Paul Dalglish and David Fernandez up front again. Frazer Wright is free from suspension and may well be thrown in at the deep end at the heart of the Killie defence.
Falkirk have a fully fit squad available for the game.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v St Mirren
With three wins in their last 12 games, Inverness will be looking to avoid making it 13 which will provide a gloomy end to their campaign. The Highland club have spent the whole season in the bottom half of the table and the players know they have under achieved and if they harbour any ambitions of finishing above Gus MacPherson’s side, they will have to take all three points as St Mirren still have a game in hand to play on Monday night.
Caley have just one clean sheet to their credit in the previous 12 games and have conceded 24 goals in the process which says it all really for Craig Brewster’s side.
Caley’s defensive record at home is appalling with 28 goals scored against them and coupled with eight defeats at home it leaves them in real danger of finishing in tenth position which will not amuse the Caley boss one bit.
Since January 20, Inverness have picked up just 11 points out of a possible 45 and have failed to score in five of those games.
St Mirren are unbeaten in their last three SPL outings and have kept clean sheets in all of those games and like Inverness, The Buddies have spent the whole season in the bottom half of the table, but manager Gus MacPherson believes it could have been very different if Craig Dargo had been fit.
St Mirren have won only three games on the road this season which has contributed greatly to their current league standing and in 11 league visits to the Highland club St Mirren have just two wins they can boast of and they were five years apart in 2001 and 2006.
Despite the fact Stewart Kean agreeing a summer switch to Queen of the South he may still find a place on the bench. Andy Dorman may be rested for this game which in turn could give Craig Molloy or Stephen O’Donnell chance of starting against Caley.