Rangers head coach Leanne Crichton says last weekend’s league win over Glasgow City should “calm the nerves” as her side prepare for Sunday’s Sky Sports Cup final.
Rangers handed City their first domestic defeat of the season when Katie Wilkinson converted a stoppage-time penalty, cutting the gap in the league to five points with seven matches remaining. Crichton hopes that momentum will help her side as they bid for the first piece of silverware this campaign.
“We knew we had to win the game, that was the reality. We could have probably afforded a draw and you would have given yourself a glimmer of hope. But I think the three points just reels Glasgow City back in the title race and it allows us now to park it,” she told Sky Sports.
“I want the players to enjoy this week. I want us to prepare properly. I don’t want us to feel stressed. This season they [Glasgow City] have had has been pretty invincible. So I think that win calms the nerves. It allows us to recognise how good we can be.”
Crichton reflected on Rangers’ inconsistency earlier in the season, saying the team had often been “their own worst enemy” with goals conceded and points dropped. The victory over City, she added, reinforces belief in the squad and the identity she wants the team to have.
Both Rangers and Glasgow City remain in contention for domestic trebles, and Rangers are aiming for a fourth successive Sky Sports Cup. Crichton, who took charge at Ibrox in the summer, accepts the pressure to deliver trophies and welcomes it.
“When you come to Rangers, that’s the expectation. I would never shy away from that. For me personally, it would be a really strong achievement at this stage of the season. You all know that first piece of silverware, if you could get that in the bag, it would give you that little bit of added confidence,” she said.
“We want to win it, we believe we can win it and I think we’ve got ourselves this season in a position just now that we’re contesting all three competitions, when some clubs in the top four don’t have that same luxury.”
Crichton also stressed the value of learning from defeat. “To be a winner, you need to experience defeat. You need to understand what that looks like and we’ve had our medicine this season on a number of occasions at different points. Last Sunday was the biggest ask of any group in any game this season across the league. For us to have lost the game would have been paramount in the title race.”
The Sky Sports Cup final faces off on Sunday, with kick-off at 3:00pm; the build-up sees both clubs still fighting on multiple fronts as the season reaches its decisive stages.