Advocaat seeks striker despite Dodds' deeds

Defending champions Rangers rally to claim opening victory

Billy Dodds may have thought four goals in less time that it takes to boil and egg was a persuasive argument to be regarded as Rangers' first-choice striker, but Dick Advocaat is ready to pour cold water over that idea.

Billy Dodds may have thought four goals in less time that it takes to boil and egg was a persuasive argument to be regarded as Rangers' first-choice striker, but Dick Advocaat is ready to pour cold water over that idea.

The Scotland player rescued Rangers for the second time in four days on Saturday to get the champions off to an expected winning start against St Johnstone in their defence of the Scottish Premier League, but no sooner had the roars of a grateful 48,000 Ibrox crowd subsided than Advocaat had the very last word on Dodds's merits.

"I still need a new striker," explained the Rangers manager. "Dodds and Rod Wallace are too similar. I need a man who can play around the box and take defenders on." What about the debt to Dodds, though? "He did quite well, but that's what he is paid for."

Perhaps Advocaat is indulging in some psychology designed to extract even more goals from Dodds, though quite how that is possible is a mystery: Dodds struck 15 times following his signing from Dundee United for £1.2m last December, which pushed Rangers towards the title. Last Wednesday, it was his two goals in injury time that secured a 4-1 win over Zalgiris Kaunas in the Champions' League second qualifying round, first leg.

Poor St Johnstone were mugged in the same fashion, Dodds pouncing in the 55th and 56th minutes. He smiled later when told of his manager's comments. "I know I cannot take my place for granted. Things at this club change from week to week. I'm not going to say I should be in the team every game, but the boss knows what he will get from me."

St Johnstone, though, who had gone ahead with Alan Kernaghan's stunning hook shot, could not contain their fury at the pivotal incident in the lead-up to Dodds's equaliser.

Nick Dasovic, the victim of a bad Andrei Kanchelskis foul, was waved off the pitch by the referee, Dougie McDonald, even though he was receiving treatment and was refused re-entry to the pitch as Rangers took advantage of their extra man. "It's hard enough coming here with 11 men, never mind 10," complained Dasovic. "The referee ignored my shouts to come back on and Rangers came right down the middle where I would have been."

The notable new arrival on the Scottish scene, the Dundee player-manager, Ivano Bonetti, had what might be described as a mixed day at the office. His side won 2-0 at Motherwell, thanks to goals from Patrizio Billio and Javier Artero, but the former Sampdoria star was sent off for two ugly fouls. "It was my mistake, I was naïve and the tackles were bad," he said.

Aberdeen also had Darren Young dismissed in the 0-0 draw at Dunfermline, while the other promoted side, St Mirren, had their return to the top flight spoiled by Kilmarnock's Gary Holt, who headed the winner at Love Street.