Rangers must take care of Partick ahead of Celtic derby, says captain Lee Wallace
Thursday 14 September 2017 13:48, UK
Lee Wallace has urged Rangers to take care of business against Partick and ensure they swagger into their showdown with Celtic., live on Sky Sports.
Rangers have a double-header against Alan Archibald's men coming up, with a Glasgow derby league trip to the Jags on Friday night preceding Tuesday's Firhill return for the Betfred Cup quarter-final.
Wallace knows once those clashes are out of the way, the countdown to the opening Old Firm match of the season at Ibrox a week on Saturday will begin in earnest.
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After putting their troubled start to the campaign behind them with back-to-back wins over Ross County and Dundee, the skipper reckoned his side were hitting form at just the right time.
"Yes we are," he said. "We know first and foremost we've got two difficult games against Thistle who'll be looking for their first win of the league season.
"They have caused us problems before and we realise they've got a couple of good individuals that will be threats.
"We'll look to try and win both games and take it from there."
Boss Pedro Caixinha has made 11 new signings this summer and it will be a vastly different Rangers line-up facing the Hoops next weekend to the squad twice thrashed 5-1 by their bitter city rivals last term.
But Wallace insisted he did not have to spell out the importance of the upcoming derby clash to any of Caixinha's foreign recruits.
He said: "The new guys can see what next week's game is all about for themselves.
"Obviously the fact Celtic were playing in a Champions League game this week against a top-class opponent shows where they are now.
"So there'll be no need to say too much. Once we get Thistle out of the way the build-up will start and we all know the intensity that surrounds that game.
"The guys in the dressing room will be well-prepared for that match."
