1 week Ago By Graham Falk
Rangers assistant Billy Dodds says the club’s ‘heroic’ players must take Thursday’s performance against Athletic Bilbao into this weekend’s clash against Aberdeen and insisted the game at Pittodrie holds the same level of importance. The 56-year-old spent time at both clubs during his playing career, making over 150 appearances for the Dons during the mid-90s, and knows all too well the importance of the fixture between the two rival sides. Last weekend’s dismal 2-0 home defeat to Hibs saw Rangers fall to their fifth successive home defeat as their inconsistent league form continued, but Dodds believes the squad will be injected with renewed confidence after holding Athletic Bilbao to a 0-0 draw on Thursday.
“I think we've got to take so much confidence out of that,” said Dodds. “I think performances like that bring you energy and that's what we're going to need when we face Aberdeen. It would make things easier on the coaching staff.
We've got plenty of experience, we know what's required, we know how what makes these players tick at times. “It's amazing how we've kept a clean sheet with nine players, obviously 10 players then down to nine [in injury time with Dujon Sterling’s going of injured]. We've been losing a few goals but it shows what can be done with hard work, graft, and a bit of organisation.
The players were, and I'm not embarrassed to say it, heroic." Should Rangers lose at Aberdeen this Sunday, and Celtic beat Kilmarnock 24 hours beforehand, it would hand their Old Firm rivals a fourth successive Scottish Premiership crown. While stopping them winning the title altogether is virtually impossible, Dodds has called on the players to ensure they delay it at Pittodrie, and put next week’s Europa League quarter-final to the back of their minds for now.
“If you take your eyes off Aberdeen with the size of fixture it is, it would be naive and stupid,” said Dodds. “We're striving to do that. I swear, all we're concentrating on is Aberdeen, we're not even looking at next Thursday.
We are just looking at Aberdeen now. It's a famous fixture, one of the biggest on the calendar. I think if you're an Aberdeen or Rangers player, this is a fixture you look forward to.
“At Pittodrie, probably a full house, it'll be some atmosphere so if you're not looking forward to that, there's something wrong. I'm at Rangers now and that's my complete focus. I've given my heart and soul for every team I've played for, so it's Rangers on Sunday now.
‘Every day is massive’ “For this club, every day is massive. I've loved it since I've come in, the staff have loved it, I think the players have enjoyed it, and that's all we want. If we can get some consistent results domestically, we'll be really happy.
We're asked a question every day. I think if they put their minds to it, the players realise that we can go on a consistent run. “The defeats have been a disappointment but overall we can see some sort of consistency coming back.
But we can't get away from it, we lost a couple of games, that's been a wee dent. I think the reaction from the players has been unbelievably good.” Rangers travel to Aberdeen this Sunday, with kick-off scheduled for 12pm.
The game will be televised live on Sky Sports..
