LEE McCulloch has vowed that Rangers will bounce back from their Uefa Cup disappointment immediately and remain fully focused on securing a domestic treble.
The former Wigan midfielder, who was thrown into the fray late in the 2-0 defeat against Zenit St Petersburg, insisted his disappointed team-mates walked into the dressing room at the City of Manchester Stadium determined to add another two trophies
to the CIS Cup they lifted earlier in the campaign.
Rangers meet Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow, then St Mirren and Aberdeen away. If they win all three games they will secure the SPL title, while the Scottish Cup rests on a Hampden final against Queen of the South a week tomorrow.
McCulloch said Rangers are capable of winning all of these tricky games, beginning with the Motherwell match.
He said: "We've got people who were out injured coming back in now, we have a big squad and Saturday is the big, big game for us. If we win that then it puts us in a great position.
"Winning the treble would be brilliant. The first thing that everybody said when we got into the dressing room was, 'there's still two medals up for grabs.' Although we were disappointed (losing against Zenit], we will hopefully bounce back for Saturday."
McCulloch, having just returned from injury, comes into contention for a start against his former club, and he added: "We won't be feeling sorry for ourselves. We've done well and got to the final but the main thing is that there are two medals up for grabs and we won't let that affect us.
"I hope to be involved (against Motherwell]. I'll need to keep working hard in training and hopefully get some game-time at some point."
McCulloch also spoke of his pride at being involved in Rangers' run to the Uefa Cup final, believing they gave it their best shot against Zenit and simply ran out of luck when it mattered most. "I'm gutted," he added. "I thought everyone done well and we were just unlucky. We need to remember the teams they've put out to get to the final. We need to re-group now for a big game on Saturday.
"It's been a good campaign, but you always want the winners medal. People will say that we have done well to get to the final but you want to go and win it. We're obviously disappointed but they were a quality side."
McCulloch was at the heart of one of Rangers' best chances as the minutes ticked away in Manchester, but confusion in a crowded penalty area led to Nacho Novo blazing the ball over the bar. "I was going to hit it and then I saw Nacho and pulled away from it," he explained. "He thought I was gong to hit it so it was a wee bit of a misunderstanding. It wasn't to be, but it's all about Saturday now.
The full article contains 497 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
