Rangers to keep battling but title dream is over, says Broadfoot

Full-back admits that even with two Old Firm games to go, Ibrox club cannot claim crown

Lisa Gray
Thursday 01 March 2012 01:00 GMT
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Kirk Broadfoot says the pressure is still on Rangers to win games
Kirk Broadfoot says the pressure is still on Rangers to win games (Reuters)

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Rangers full-back Kirk Broadfoot admits the Scottish Premier League title race is "as good as finished", but insists there is no less pressure on his club to deliver results between now and the end of the season.

The Scottish champions trail leaders Celtic by 20 points after being docked 10 points by the Scottish Premier League when they were forced into administration on 14 February.

Even with two Old Firm derbies still to be contested, Broadfoot is realistic enough to know that there is little hope of Rangers hauling themselves back into contention.

But, even though the club continue to face challenges off the field as a result of their financial problems, Broadfoot claims the demands placed on the players to deliver on the pitch are the same as they have always been.

He said: "I don't think there's any less pressure because of the circumstances. We are at Rangers and we are always expected to win, no matter who we play.

"The league isn't over mathematically but we're realistic and we know it's as good as finished now.

"We'll keep fighting though and pushing on. I can't see Celtic losing seven games but we need to push on as much as we can anyway.

"The fans and everyone else at the club demand we continue getting positive results. We make those demands of ourselves too.

"As such, we've got to make sure we get second place and hopefully we'll be in a position where we can play European football next season."

Their first match after going into administration saw Rangers slump to a morale-sapping defeat against Kilmarnock in front of their biggest crowd of the season so far at Ibrox.

Ally McCoist's side then managed a return to form with an impressive 4-1 win at Inverness at the weekend and will be looking to replicate that performance when Hearts visit on Saturday.

But even finishing second in the SPL does not guarantee European football next term for the Light Blues. The club must be out of administration and submit audited accounts by 31 March to secure a Uefa licence.

But as far as Broadfoot is concerned, pride, if nothing else, is still at stake. He said: "Even if we're not able to play in Europe, we still want to be as high up the league as we can be because we don't want to fall down the table.

"Hopefully we can get second place and be able to say at the end of the season we gave as good as we got."

Administrators Duff and Phelps have yet to axe any players as part of their cost-cutting measures though an announcement on any possible jobs cuts is expected soon. It remains unclear whether there will be news of redundancies today.

However, Rangers defender Sasa Papac feels all the players are under threat of losing their jobs and admits his time at Ibrox is nearing an end even if he survives for now.

The 32-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and said: "We have to see what will be done by the administrators. Their job is to clear Rangers' financial debts, which means we could lose a lot of players. The players are well paid, in fact they are paid too well for the situation Rangers finds itself in.

"Any one of the players could go now and I have no chance of getting another contract, at least not one at my existing level."

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