Take a break: Walter Smith says that Rangers' SPL charge will benefit from a break for cup action. Pic: ©STV
Walter Smith believes a two week break from SPL duty will give his league leading Rangers side a fresh outlook as they attempt to win their second successive title. The Light Blues emerged victorious at Kilmarnock on Tuesday night, earning a 2-0 win that saw the complete a full year with only one defeat on league business.
Only defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie in November threatened to derail their surge towards league success and Kilmarnock, who put a dent in Celtic’s hopes with a 1-0 win at the same ground in February, were powerless to prevent goals from Steven Whittaker and Kenny Miller sending Smith’s men opening up a 13-point gap at the top of the table.
Rangers won’t see league action until March 24 with a Scottish Cup tie with Dundee United on Saturday, followed by the Co-operative Insurance Cup final with St Mirren on Sunday March 21 and Smith feels that hiatus from regular duty will keep the players fresh for their title fight after two stuttering performances against Killie and the Buddies last weekend.
"I was a little bit concerned overall, I didn't think we reached a great level on Saturday against St Mirren in comparison to the way we have been playing,” conceded Smith. “In the first half in this game we didn't either.
"We've got two cup ties now which takes us out of the league campaign and that will give us an opportunity to freshen up and get ready to remaining league games after the League Cup final."
Kilmarnock looked on top for spells in the first period but failed to turn their possession into goals and they were punished by a Rangers team brimming with confidence.
After the half-time break, Smith’s team emerged with a new impetus and left Killie with no reply – a period of dominance that satisfied the Rangers boss.
"It was a satisfying result for us,” said Smith. “It was a poor first half from ourselves and Kilmarnock were the better side. We were slow to start but it was a turnaround at the start of the second half.
“For the first 25 minutes of the second half we had by far the best of the game and that spell won it for us, getting the two goals. I'm pleased with the second half performance but it was a poor first half from our own point of view."
Killie boss Jimmy Calderwood was disappointed that his team couldn’t take advantage of their impressive first half showing but admitted facing a Rangers team who are sharing the goals around their team was always going to be tough.
"That's the quality they've got," said Calderweood. "But we more than matched them in the first half. We seemed to lose a bit of confidence in the second half for some strange reason and that was the annoying thing.
"You could say that's just the quality of Rangers. We huffed and puffed but we just weren't anywhere near to the standard of the first half."
