Dunfermline v Rangers – Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds – SPL – 11 February 2012
Rangers look to close the gap in the title race as they travel to face Dunfermline in the Scottish Premier League. The match will take place at East End Park in Dunfermline, Scotland on Saturday, February 11, 2012. Kickoff is scheduled for 07:00 EST (USA Eastern), 12:00 GMT (UK time), and 13:00 CET (Central Europe).
Dunfermline v Rangers TV Listings
The match will be televised on Setanta Sports (Africa/Australia), Rogers Sportsnet (Canada), Orange Sport (Poland), ESPN (UK), ONE Sport (Israel), Sport TV2 (Portugal), SportKlub+ (SE Europe), Sport 1 (Hungary/Romania/Czech Republic/Slovakia), and Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East).
Dunfermline v Rangers Preview
Rangers manager Ally McCoist
“We have to keep asking questions and keep winning games.
“Everybody at our club knows the importance of that.
“It’s a massive game for us on Saturday for a number of reasons, coming back off the defeat in the cup and having to maintain our league challenge.”
“We had a very good performance there earlier in the season on what was a good day, but to counter that they made it very difficult for us at Ibrox.
“The thing that Jim’s squad has is real great and determination. They knew it would be difficult for them when they came up to the SPL but they’re making a real fight of it.
“That will make it a difficult game for us and coming off the back of a disappointment at the weekend we have a lot to prove on Saturday.”
McCoist has clearly been impressed enough by the set up at East End Park despite the SPL new boys finding themselves at the foot of the table.
“It’s important for Kyle, like anyone, to play. He wants that and he had a spell at Partick Thistle where he was playing on a regular basis.
“One thing we wanted was for him to sign a new contract here before he went to get experience of playing and now he’s gone to a very good club to do that.
“He feels he wants to educate himself and bring himself on by playing in the SPL and it was the natural step up from his spell at Partick Thistle.
“We want him to come back as a stronger and more educated player that can hopefully break in to the first team and stay there.
“We hope it will be an experience for him and I’ve said before that I’m not averse to the boys going out on loan.
“You look at some of the boys who have done it before and it’s certainly been a benefit, with Allan McGregor and Charlie Adam two that spring to mind.”
Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre
“Anytime an Old Firm team loses a game it is all about the Old Firm rather than how well Dundee United played. I thought Dundee United played really well. I am sure that Rangers will not be happy with the way they played but United were excellent and all credit should go to them for their performance rather than it was a case of ‘the Old Firm weren’t at the races’.
“United started well and made sure that they were right at it from the first whistle. For all Rangers troubles at the minute, they are a good side and they have good players. Obviously things have not gone their way in the last couple of weeks losing some key players but we have got to look after ourselves and try and get a result.”
“You have to put pressure on yourself to go and get results. We are in a dog fight for our lives here and we have to make sure that we pick up as many points as we can and that’s what we will be trying to do.”
“They scored against the run of play, then they dominated the game and we scored against the run of play. That was the story of the first half really. The second half could have gone either way with both teams having really good opportunities to score.
“The performance at Aberdeen was good and we deserved more out of it. At Motherwell we got what we deserved but at Kilmarnock we were excellent. So in our recent performances we have not been far away and I think it is important to remember that we have picked up four points from Killie in the last three weeks. Kilmarnock were a top six side for a wee while there so we are not too far away.
“There’s no doubt that adding players has put us in better shape. We had good players here but we needed help and the new arrivals can provide that.”
“Anytime you perform well against the Old Firm – we did it at Parkhead as well – you have to weather the storm. You need to defend well and your goalkeeper needs to play well. Nothing changes on that front, you need to grow into the game and it is important that you do not concede early.”
“He is still in a fair bit of discomfort so it is not looking likely but then with back spasms there can be dramatic improvements so we will just have to wait and see.”
Team SPL Stats
| Dunfermline | Rangers | |
|---|---|---|
| Matches Played | 25 | 25 |
| Table Position | 12 | 2 |
| Points | 18 | 58 |
| Goal Difference | -27 | 33 |
| Goals for * | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Goals against * | 2.7 | 0.5 |
| Last 5 | D-L-L-W-L | W-D-W-W-L |
| Last 5 home | D-L-L-L-D | W-D-W-W-W |
| Last 5 away | L-L-W-L-L | W-L-L-W-L |
| * Goals per match – home matches for home club and away matches for away club | ||
| Dunfermline | Rangers | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Andy Kirk 7 | Nikica Jelavic 14 |
| Assists | Joe Cardle 4 | Steven Davis 10 |
| Yellows | Martin Hardie 5 | Dorin Goian 6 |
| Reds | John Potter 1 | Dorin Goian 1 |
Upcoming SPL Fixtures
| Dunfermline | Rangers | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/11 | Rangers | 2/11 | @Dunfermline |
| 2/18 | Inverness | 2/18 | Kilmarnock |
| 2/22 | @Celtic | 2/26 | @Inverness |
| 2/25 | @St Johnstone | 3/3 | Heart of Midlothian |
| 3/3 | Motherwell | 3/17 | @Dundee United |
Dunfermline v Rangers Prediction
Rangers win 2-0
Dunfermline v Rangers Betting Odds
Dunfermline win – 10/1
Draw – 4/1
Rangers win – 2/7
