By Robbie Copeland
Copyright dailyrecord
Bullish David Martindale doesn’t buy the idea that Rangers are there for the taking – but he won’t be telling his players to treat it as a free hit either. Livingston welcome Rangers this weekend with Russell Martin under immense pressure as the Ibrox side chase an elusive first league win of the season. The crisis eased somewhat with a Premier Sports Cup victory over Hibs at the weekend and they’ll be hoping for another good result against Genk in the Europa League on Thursday before their trip to West Lothian on Sunday. Looking ahead to the game, Livi boss Martindale was asked by Sky Sports if Rangers’ well publicised struggles have any impact on their preparations. But he said: “No, not at all. I’m trying not to comment on other clubs to be honest. We’ve just come up this year, I’ve been caught out by that in previous years. “I just want to focus on Livingston. But I will say, it was a good result at the weekend for Rangers. They’ve got another game coming on Thursday. “Two big decisions went against them in the Hearts game – that could have been a totally different turning point. “So I don’t really buy into the narrative that they’re not in a good place. I think they’re in a transitional period, and we’ll still need to be at our very best if we’re going to get anything from the game.” On the flip side of the coin, however, Martindale certainly won’t be buying into the cliche that games against the Old Firm ‘don’t define your season.’ And he’ll be ordering his side to go for it in pursuit of the three points. He went on: “I’m really looking forward to them coming here. Obviously we missed out last year on these types of games so it’s going to be a really busy venue. Hearts actually nearly filled the venue themselves so it was a great atmosphere at that game. “But I don’t buy into the idea that your season isn’t defined by these games, especially the home games. It’s still three points at stake and every point that’s available, you’ve got to try and grasp that if you can. “It’s a big game for us. That certainly won’t be the message from my staff or me, that it’s not going to define our season. Because it can define our season. “We’ll be going out there on Sunday to try and get three points.” Follow Record Sport on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We’re also on WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here . Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport’s newest podcast, Game On , every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
