Burns rallies his troops

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL

Saturday 01 March 1997 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL

Celtic's manager, Tommy Burns, has instructed his players to forget about the forthcoming Tennents Scottish Cup tie with Rangers and concentrate on picking up three points against Hearts at Parkhead today.

Rangers lead the Premier Division by seven points and Celtic will be desperate for Aberdeen to avoid defeat against the champions at Pittodrie.

Burns, who is likely to bring in the Italian defender, Enrico Annoni, said: "We are going into a vital stage of the season and a period which could make or break it for us. These are the kind of games every top player wants to be involved in."

Paul Gascoigne's ankle injury looks like keeping him out of Rangers' crucial League and Cup double-header against Celtic. He is due to have his plaster removed on Monday but will not be back before the Cup tie on Thursday or the League match, also at Parkhead, on 16 March. The Ibrox side will be without Derek McInnes at Aberdeen today.

Roy Aitken, the Aberdeen manager, wants a big improvement on last week's defeat at Dunfermline. "The application, attitude and desire could be better, and the players have admitted that," he said. John Inglis, Billy Dodds and Dean Windass are suspended while Duncan Shearer and Stewart McKimmie are out injured.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in