Dynamo comments from Craig Moore
Craig Moore is hoping for a quiet night when Moscow Dynamo come to town - but has vowed to be ready when called upon. The Australian is expecting the Russians to adopt a defensive formation at Ibrox in the first leg of their UEFA Cup second round clash. That could mean employing just one front man against the Rangers back line but Moore knew that coping with a counter-attacking team was a special task in itself at this level. He said:
"I would imagine they will be looking to sit in and maybe sneak something on a counter attack but obviously it's up to ourselves to cope. It's most important to keep a clean sheet and secondly to go on and score goals to make the second leg more comfortable. It's strange to play against defensive teams because it's like being a goalkeeper. You are maybe not tested for 30, 40 minutes and then all of a sudden you are expected to pull something off. It's not quite as bad for a defender. We do expect them to be defensive, but we have the players to handle that."
Although their league form has been patchy, Dynamo thrashed Anzhi Makhachkala 5-0 in their final game before flying into Scotland. Anzhi were the team Rangers struggled to beat in the previous round in the one-off encounter in neutral Warsaw.
Dynamo would be certain to have watched a tape of that game but Moore laughed off suggestions that the Russians would assume their opponents would be as bad again. He said:
"Let's hope so! We didn't play that day but the most important thing was that we got through to this stage."
Anzhi coach Alexander Markarov had supplied information to his counterpart Alexander Novikov, branding Rangers as cloggers whose star players were over the hill. Ronald de Boer and Claudio Caniggia were two names thrown in the has-been category but Moore insisted that little notice would be taken in the dressing room. He said:
"I've not even heard or read any of their statements. But I don't think the players they have been speaking about will be too bothered. We will be concentrating on ourselves and what we can do."
Rangers recorded an impressive 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock at the weekend to erase the painful memory of losing to Celtic in the first Old Firm derby of the season. Moore believed the margin of victory could have been greater and that the standard of play had been a significant boost for the squad's confidence. He said:
"Obviously we created a lot of chances and that's been the biggest positive to have come out of the last week or so. Hopefully we can continue that and be as positive again and continue to create chances. We are beginning to convert them now so that's a good sign. When you put in a decent performance like we did against Kilmarnock, the quicker the games come the better. When you go through sticky spells the only way to get out of them is to get the games coming as quickly as possible. It has not been the easiest of starts but we are definitely showing signs of major improvement."
Michael Ball is set for his European debut having played the last two games as part of a three-man defence. England scouts will be watching him as well. Moore said:
"He has worked very hard to get a level of fitness and I think he has looked really comfortable. He gives us balance as well because he is naturally left-sided."
Rangers welcome back centre-back Lorenzo Amoruso from a domestic suspension but will be without strikers Shota Arveladze and Michael Mols. Arveladze is ineligible because he played in the Champions League for Ajax while Mols completes a three-match ban for his sending off in a Champions League qualifier against Fenerbahce. Billy Dodds, Peter Lovenkrands, Scott Wilson and Christian Nerlinger are also unavailable.
Advocaat issues warning
Dick Advocaat insists Dynamo Moscow's thrashing of the Ibrox side's last UEFA Cup opponents acts as a stark warning. The Govan side struggled to see off Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in their unique one-off first round tie and only a late Bert Konterman strike secured Rangers a place in the next round of the competition. The second round draw also paired Rangers with Russian opposition - this time the team they beat in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1972. But Dynamo Moscow have shown that they have no intention of being push-overs at Ibrox on Thursday night by stunning Anzhi with a 5-0 win in the Russian Cup following their heavy defeat against league side Saturn. He said:
"It is a warning for us if they can beat Anzhi 5-0 after they lost 6-1 in their away game. So it shows enough what they can do but, again, it's up to us because it's very important to go far in the UEFA Cup. We have to get a result - keep a clean sheet and try to score one or two goals."
Anzhi started their game against Rangers defensively, sitting back and trying to hit the Ibrox side on the break. And Advocaat is expecting Dynamo Moscow to employ similar tactics for the first leg. But he claims it is vital that his side try to break down the Russians' defence in order to head into the return leg with the upper hand. He added:
"It's difficult to say how they will play because we had some ideas about the way Anzhi played and I think they will do the same. They'll try to get a good result here, play defensively and try to do something on the break. It's up to us what we do but I don't expect a very open game from Dynamo Moscow here. It's the same as what Anzhi did, they will try to play on the counter attack. They will close us down definitely - that's the way it is when you play European football. But we are playing at home and we have home advantage so we have to show what we can do. In the last couple of weeks we have showed a lot of progress in the team and now we have another team to do that."
