INTERIM Rangers manager Stuart McCall insisted last night that he has no concerns about fatigue harming his side's push for promotion to the SPFL Premiership next week.
McCall's team booked their play-off final place against Motherwell yesterday despite a 1-0 loss to Hibernian at Easter Road in the semi-final's second leg.
They advanced to the double header against the Fir Park club - who finished one off the bottom of the Premiership - in no small part thanks to their 2-0 victory
at Ibrox on Wednesday evening.
The 2-1 aggregate triumph over Alan Stubbs' side has brought into being the "nightmare scenario" McCall had previously described: a decider against his former club for a place in the top-flight.
However, the 50-year-old is confident Rangers can prevail despite playing in four high-intensity play-off matches in the space of a fortnight at the end
of a draining campaign.
"The good thing is the first leg is on Thursday," he said. "The lads heard two words there they have not heard for months - day off.
"Murray Park has fantastic facilities. They will get massaged and looked after and they will be ready to go [on] Thursday. They have all of June to be tired. We have just given ourselves an opportunity."
McCall, who is hoping to get Rangers promoted - and be appointed full-time manager - admitted he was disappointed to be facing his former club.
The former manager of the year spent four years in charge at Fir Park and only stood down earlier in the 2014/15 campaign after a disappointing run of results.
"I was absolutely gutted when they finished 11th," he said. "If I'm honest, I thought when Ian [new Motherwell manager Baraclough] brought [in] theseven or eight players in January, they would be nowhere near 11th.
"But there were no favourites between us and Queen of the South and you could see that by the tight scoreline. It was exactly the same with us and Hibs and it will be the same with us and Motherwell. They are two huge games for the club and we just have to make sure the lads are ready.
"For me to be manager of Rangers is something I could never have envisaged. And I am really gutted at how things have gone with Motherwell. It will be difficult but it is not about me, it is about
players.
"I had three and a half fantastic years at Motherwell. It is a fantastic club, but our squad are going to have to do their best to get in the Premiership."
None of those involved will scale the gamut of emotions more than Nicky Law of Rangers and his brother Josh of Motherwell.
The pair will fly to New York the morning after the second leg where Nicky, a former Motherwell player, will be best man at Josh's wedding in Central Park.
Nicky said: "Going back to face your old club is difficult, but in the play-off situation, with them obviously looking to stay up and us looking to get up, it is even more so. Then there is also [the fact that] my brother [is] playing for them.
"It is our futures on the line. He has a young family. It looks like he might be staying at Motherwell. Of course he wants to be doing that in the top league . . . and it is the same for myself.
"My focus is 110% on getting us back to where we feel we belong and Josh will be the same with Motherwell. He's also playing right-back and I'm out on the left so it could be me in direct opposition to him."
Law added: "It's going to be strange, but you can't be sympathetic. We live together so I might put something in his food. I'll be doing the cooking this week! He is staying with us for another week and then we're away the day after the second leg for his wedding."
Stubbs, whose Hibs side controlled large spells of both legs of the semi-final only to fail to convert enough of the chances they created, criticised match official John Beaton for failing to prevent the visitors from wasting time
until late in the game.
He said: "It took 75 minutes
before he cautioned a player for wasting time. These are little things, but they all add up in the end. I think the referee could have done something about that a lot earlier and put a stop to it."
Stubbs expressed confidence Hibs could hold on to their leading players this summer despite failing to join their Edinburgh rivals Hearts in the Premiership.
He said: "The budget will still be the same next year so I'm hopeful I can keep all these players.
"We'll do everything we can to hold on to our best players. Most are still under contract, a few aren't, but we're making progress behind the scenes with that."
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