By Hayley Paterson Last updated: 11th May 2008
Advocaat: Wants UEFA cup
Dick Advocaat hopes his Zenit St Peterburg stars will defeat his former club Rangers in the Uefa Cup final and destroy their bid for the quadruple.
The Dutchman has steered his Russian side past European giants Villarreal, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich in the knock-out stages. But Advocaat wants his players to "finish the job" - with Rangers their final opponents.
He said: "After the second leg, against Bayern, I told my players that if they play that well again, like they have done in the previous rounds, then they have a chance of winning the competition.
"I've brought a winning spirit to Zenit, and the most important thing for me now is to win the Uefa Cup.
"If we have come this far then we have to finish the job. In order to win, we should go out onto the field full of confidence like we did in the previous rounds of the competition.
"We should already be very proud of reaching the final," Advocaat added.
Gers boss Walter Smith is confident Kevin Thomson will be available after initial concerns he could miss the cup final after picking up an ankle injury during the 3-1 win over Dundee United.
Zenit will also be without the competition's joint top-scorer, Pavel Pogrebniak, who is suspended for the tie at the City of Manchester stadium. Despite Rangers being the better side on paper, Advocaat is hoping the Russian fans will act as their twelfth man.
"One way or another, Rangers will play as if it were a home game.
"We rely on the support of the Zenit fans and I hope that they will turn out for the final - it's very important for us," he added.
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Saturday 9th August | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:30 | Falkirk vs Rangers |
| 15:00 | Aberdeen vs Inverness CT |
| 15:00 | Hearts vs Motherwell |
| 15:00 | Kilmarnock vs Hibernian |
| Sunday 10th August | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:30 | Celtic vs St Mirren |
| Monday 11th August | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Hamilton vs Dundee Utd |
| Saturday 16th August | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Hibernian vs Falkirk |
| 15:00 | Inverness CT vs Hamilton |
| 15:00 | Motherwell vs Aberdeen |
| 15:00 | Rangers vs Hearts |
| 15:00 | St Mirren vs Kilmarnock |
| Sunday 17th August | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 14:00 | Dundee Utd vs Celtic |
| Saturday 23rd August | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 12:30 | Aberdeen vs Rangers |
| 15:00 | Celtic vs Falkirk |
| 15:00 | Hearts vs St Mirren |
| 15:00 | Inverness CT vs Hibernian |
| 15:00 | Kilmarnock vs Hamilton |
| 15:00 | Motherwell vs Dundee Utd |
| Saturday 30th August | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Dundee Utd vs Kilmarnock |
| 15:00 | Falkirk vs Inverness CT |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Thursday 22nd May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Aberdeen 2 - 0 Rangers | |
| Dundee Utd 0 - 1 Celtic | |
| Hibernian 0 - 2 Motherwell | |
| Monday 19th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| St Mirren 0 - 3 Rangers | |
| Saturday 17th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Motherwell 1 - 1 Rangers | |
| Inverness CT 0 - 0 St Mirren | |
| Kilmarnock 2 - 1 Falkirk | |
| Tuesday 13th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Gretna 1 - 0 Hearts | |
| Sunday 11th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Celtic 2 - 0 Hibernian | |
| Saturday 10th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Rangers 3 - 1 Dundee Utd | |
| Falkirk 2 - 1 Inverness CT | |
| Hearts 0 - 2 Kilmarnock | |
| Motherwell 2 - 1 Aberdeen | |
| St Mirren 0 - 0 Gretna | |
| Wednesday 7th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Rangers 1 - 0 Motherwell | |
| Monday 5th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Falkirk 2 - 1 Hearts | |
| Sunday 4th May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Hibernian 0 - 0 Rangers | |
| Saturday 3rd May | |
| Clydesdale Bank Premier League | |
| Motherwell 1 - 2 Celtic | |
| Inverness CT 6 - 1 Gretna | |
| St Mirren 1 - 0 Kilmarnock | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aberdeen | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Celtic | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Dundee United | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Falkirk | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Hamilton Academical | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Hearts | 0 | 0 |
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