Leon Balogun has declared that Rangers cannot afford to lose the Scottish League Cup final to Celtic tomorrow at Hampden Park.
The Light Blues have had a tumultuous campaign. They trail leaders Celtic by 11 points in the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers have fared better in cup competitions, securing one of the automatic spots for the knockout phase in the Europa League and reaching the final of the League Cup.
Balogun has played a bit-part role for the Scottish giants, starting just nine games from a possible twenty-six across all competitions, but he is expected to start against Celtic tomorrow, with John Souttar all but ruled out of the match.
Speaking to the media ahead of the game, the veteran defender said Ranged have to pip Celtic to the title to make up for their disappointing season.
“It would be massive to win the cup as it would be a first major trophy for a lot of the players and it would be huge for the club as well,” the Super Eagles defender was quoted as saying by Rangers official webpage.
“We all sign here to win trophies and this is the next opportunity to do that.
“In these games, it is always about small margins and concentration is a big factor.
“At Rangers you have to win. Second is the first loser, so it is all or nothing. Thursday was reassuring, the way we played.
“I could imagine that it wasn’t expected by many people so we proved a point there.
“It is about taking that confidence and level of performance into the next game which happens to be quite big.
“It is very nice to prove a point but first and foremost we owed it to ourselves.
“There has been a lot of talk about the quality of players but if we don’t live up to that expectation then questions are rightly asked.
“Everyone in the group has shown we can do it and we need to keep that going.
“If you look at the recent Old Firm games the simple thing we need to do is win.
“If we play like we played against Tottenham, everyone in the squad knows how to do that and they have shown that.. Now we need to look to do that.”
The 36-year-old Balogun helped Rangers win the League Cup last season, defeating Aberdeen 1-0 in the final, and will be hoping to do the same tomorrow.
He has won three titles with Rangers, including one Scottish Premiership, the Scottish Cup and the League Cup he won last season.
Balogun is one of the most experienced players in Rangers’ squad and Philippe Clement will be hoping he is at his best in tomorrow’s game.
By Abdulkareem Abdulhamid @All Nigeria Succer
