CLINT HILL, the Rangers defender, admitted his team will struggle badly at Celtic Park if they continue their habit of starting games slowly.
Two dropped points at Rugby Park on Friday night allowed Celtic to go top of the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership the next day and victory in the Old Firm match a week on Saturday would put them four points clear of the Ibrox club with a game in hand, having had a much tougher run of fixtures.
Hill admitted that Rangers have to find a way of getting into a game from the first whistle, which they failed to do against Hamilton, Motherwell and Kilmarnock, or the derby at Parkhead is going to be a tough afternoon for those wearing blue.
“We’ve got to promise the fans more at Celtic – if we don’t then it will be a very, very difficult game,” said Hill. “We need to turn up and turn up from the first whistle. Celtic are a good team.
"I’ve never experienced a game like that with the atmosphere but I imagine it will be tough, played at full pace and be full-blooded and we need to be at it from the start.
“It was the same against Hamilton and pretty much every game we’ve had a decent half and one that hasn’t quite clicked.
"We need to try and put our finger on it and learn over the next week to 10 days because we need to decent halves of football against Celtic.
“We can’t start this way against Celtic and hopefully we have a reaction. It’s so frustrating because at Kilmarnock we were 1-0 down and that allows them to sit in and make it harder for us. It’s always a struggle."
Kenny Miller expressed his concern over the weekend about what could happen against Celtic if Rangers didn’t up their game, and admitted that to go four points behind even at such an early stage could be fatal in terms of challenging for the title.
Such quick judgements might seem unfair and yet Hill conceded such pressure is something the new players will have to live with.
“The expectation is massive here,” said the 37-year-old defender. “If you play anywhere else in world football and go away from home and get a point then people will be happy but that’s not the case at Rangers.
“A draw is a disappointment for us all. The tradition of the club means you have to win games and we haven’t done that.
“I’ve been speaking to boys around the club and there have been bigger and better international players than me who have been blown away by the atmosphere and the occasion and have struggled.
“Obviously it will be new for me and if I am involved hopefully I can embrace it and put in a good performance with the lads.”
Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, and his staff have a few things to work on during the international break.
“We have a game at Linfield next week and that’s a good thing for us,” said Hill. “The break has come at a bad time for us because we didn’t get a win going into it. Saturday will hopefully give us 90 minutes to iron out some of the things we need to work on.”
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