Zenit St Petersburg defender Fernando Ricksen is relishing the prospect of facing former club Rangers in the Uefa Cup final.
Ex-Blue feels Gers and Zenit are worthy finalists
Zenit St Petersburg defender Fernando Ricksen is relishing the prospect of facing former club Rangers in the Uefa Cup final.
The 31-year-old spent six years at Ibrox before moving to Zenit in 2006, signed on both occasions by Dutch coach Dick Advocaat.
The pair will renew acquaintances with their old club at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday, giving them both a chance to reminisce about successful spells with the Gers.
"I'm very excited," he told
Sky Sports News. "I had a fantastic time at Rangers.
Success
"I loved the country and the people over there. The fans were excellent and I gained success there so for me to leave was a little strange. But I knew where I was going and what was coming ahead for me."
Although Ricksen was a key member of the Gers' treble-winning side of 2003, his time in Glasgow was dogged by off-field problems.
The former Holland international made a quick return to Ibrox after initially joining Zenit on a 12-month loan. As part of the deal, the two clubs arranged a friendly in which Ricksen was booed following a reckless challenge that left former team-mate Chris Burke injured.
"I hope I get an excellent reception," said Ricksen. "But I think it will be the opposite because you know how it is with players who play in big games against their former club.
Reception
"That was only a friendly so can you imagine what it'd be like in a Uefa Cup final?"
Zenit have beaten the likes of Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Marseille to reach the final, while Rangers have emerged as knock-out specialists in overcoming Fiorentina, Sporting Lisbon and Werder Bremen.
Ricksen expects to be kept out of Zenit's starting line-up by Aleksandr Anyukov and the former AZ Alkmaar man claims he has not given the inside track on Rangers to his Zenit team-mates.
"We've seen a lot of Rangers' games and they know what to expect so I don't need to tell them much," he added.
"Rangers play a system that works for them and I think they've done exceptionally well with it to beat some big teams. They deserve to be in the final also because they've shown they are the best in that kind of play."
