Louis Laing ready to face Rangers barrage head on

The Fir Park side soaked up everything Rangers threw at them in the first leg of the SPFL Premiership final on Thursday night and picked them off at will on the counter attack to establish a 3-1 lead.

Had Lionel Ainsworth put the ball in the net from close range at 3-0 with 24 minutes to play rather than clearing the crossbar, it might have been time to step in and call an end to the contest on humanitarian grounds.

As it is, Rangers will patch themselves up and head for Lanarkshire with the attitude of a fighter going into the final round a good four points down on every card. They have to come out swinging and land plenty of early blows.

Louis Laing, who returned to the Motherwell rearguard to such effect at Ibrox, will bear the brunt of their endeavours. He does not give the impression of a man preparing to curl up into a protective ball, though.

The 22-year-old centre-half believes that, with the pace of Ainsworth and Marvin Johnson on the wings and the likes of Lee Erwin and Scott McDonald pushing forward, his side are perfectly suited to absorbing further pressure and capitalising on the defensive frailties of opponents that will almost certainly have to leave themselves open and vulnerable at times.

"We are all expecting an assault from Rangers," said Laing, on loan from Nottingham Forest and out-of-contract this summer. "They've got no other choice.

"Does it play into our hands if they attack us? I think it does. That showed the other night at Ibrox.

"In the first 10 minutes, we were maybe a bit fortunate not to concede, but, with our two pacy wingers, the game plan worked out really well for us.

"We counter-attacked really well and a similar thing might happen on Sunday. We will have to wait and see.

"I don't think we will change our approach too much. The plan is to try to grab the first goal and limit Rangers' opportunities."

Laing, a Geordie, is, of course, a Newcastle United man through and through. He watched them escape relegation in their final fixture of the season and is hoping to repeat the dose with his current club.

"It was another great escape for them this season," said Laing, who somehow ended up starting his senior career with Sunderland . "I hope we can now do the same and stay in the league on the final day."

The very mention of Newcastle United can make a Rangers fan shiver, though. Over and above the influence of their owner, Mike Ashley, on events at Ibrox, the loan agreement signed with the St James' Park club that saw a handful of players incapable of actually playing travel north to Glasgow was just one bizarre twist in another rollercoaster season.

Haris Vuckic, of course, has performed well. Shane Ferguson, now fully recovered from knee surgery, also looked promising on his debut appearance in the closing 23 minutes of the first leg against Motherwell and must be in contention for a starting slot tomorrow.

"I know the Newcastle lads at Rangers," said Laing. "I've played against them in the past at Under-16 level and the like and Remie Streete is my mate.

"I know him from being from the same area, although he went to Newcastle and I went to Sunderland. We've got mutual friends. Last summer, we went to Marbella on holiday and I mingled with him out there.

"He's been injured and hasn't played very much for Rangers, but all the loan players from Newcastle have got talent. When Shane came on in the first leg, I thought he was a threat, but we dealt with them well on the night."

McCall has admitted he will ring the changes. Tom Walsh did enough to come into the reckoning while Kris Boyd, a spectacular failure on his return to Ibrox, may be given one last chance to salvage his reputation given how desperate the situation is for his team.

"We will deal with it and be ready if he starts," warned Laing. "We will definitely have to be wary of him as he was a threat in the air when he came on in the first leg, but I hope we can stop the crosses to him at source."

Ian Baraclough, the Motherwell manager, has made great mention of how he believes his team were written off before the first leg. It was the key tenet of his preparations.

"I think it created a siege mentality," said Laing. "In the changing room, though, we were confident we could do it and we went out and showed that we were right to feel confident."

The inexperienced defender has also revealed he savoured the electricity of a sold-out Ibrox and would love another bear-pit atmosphere tomorrow.

"It was a fantastic atmosphere," he said. "I take my hat off to the Rangers fans and the Motherwell fans, too, because you could hear them over the top of the home support.

"It was the highlight of my career so far to play in front of that number of people. You couldn't hear yourself think, but it inspired us. I absolutely loved it."