Hoping to be on Tyne STEVIE Smith would love to take to the Tynecastle turf on Saturday as part of Rangers starting 11 – in a game he calls “must win”. The defender, who is in his second spell at Rangers, has struggled for consistent spells in Ally McCoist’s team this season. He has started seven games since late September and the 29-year old has found himself yo-yoing in and out of the team. But despite a frustrating beginning to his season, Smith is relishing the opportunities he is getting. He said: “Its always difficult when you are in and out of the side. “Its not easy for any player as you want to be playing every week, so you can get into a rhythm and get some momentum going. “Im not going to complain and Ill continue to work hard - if you get put into a game then you do the very best that you can. “Thats something that I always try to do and dont get me wrong, sometimes it doesnt work out that way and you have a poor performance. “But its something that Im getting used to - whenever and wherever the manager asks me to play, Im going to try as hard as I can and hopefully its good enough” Smith is part of a large squad of Gers players that have played their role in interchangeable starting 11’s throughout the season. The former Preston North End man believes the squad mentality at Ibrox sets them apart from other clubs. He explained: “There is a group of players who have not been involved as much in games this season. “We go out and work really hard on the days that the first team are recovering. “You go out and do a lot of work and its really frustrating when it gets to the weekend and youre not playing. “Ive been at other clubs when its easy to switch off and not work as hard as you should be. “I think youve got to give credit to the boys who have done that as a squad and go out every other day and put the work in. “You need to put that work in, because you need to be ready whenever you get that chance.” Smith picked up a slight calf injury in Saturday’s draw with Alloa but is optimistic he will have recovered before Saturday’s early kick off. He said: “Hopefully its just a knock - I didnt do a lot at training on Monday or Tuesday as Ive just been having treatment. “I’m hoping I’m fine for the weekend because I’d love to be involved, “Every game is a must win match at Rangers, thats the way that it has always been. “Everyone is going to look at the gap at the top of the table and say Hearts is a must win, which is understandable. “But whether the gap is six points or if we were six points in front, for me it would always be a must win game.”
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:41:50 +0000
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