Beale: Striving For Stronger Performances

MICHAEL Beale hopes Rangers can pick up from where they left off before the international break as Dundee United visit Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership tomorrow afternoon.

The Gers boss says the squad are ‘striving for stronger performances each week’ and hopes for a positive display in front of a home crowd. 

Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference earlier today, Beale said: “In the last six league games we have scored 19 goals and in that period we have been away to Motherwell, away to Hearts and away to Hibs.

“We've got some big games coming up so the opportunity is there for us, football is never perfect but we are striving for stronger performances each week. I didn't really want the international break to come because I thought we were playing really well, and we certainly could have scored more goals. When we are scoring three or four and we are coming away disappointed that we have not scored three or four more that shows what the team is capable of so if they can reach those heights regularly then we will be in a good place. 

“We just have to play every game in front of us, our first thought now is Dundee United and we have to give that the respect it deserves. We haven't played for a couple of weeks so we are hungry to play and one place I feel I would like to see us play better is at Ibrox. 

“I do feel that our strongest performances since I have come back are away from home. That is maybe because of the style of the game and the spaces so we are constantly working on the problems that different teams will challenge us with, but I am looking for a performance at home and tomorrow gives us an opportunity to do that.”

He continued: “We love playing at Ibrox, it is an iconic stadium, and it is a pleasure to go and play there. I just think at home you are trying to force that first goal early in the game. Teams that come are naturally a little bit more cautious than in their home stadiums.

“The last two or three times we have gone away from home teams have generally thought they could meet us head on and it has made for really interesting games and I don't know if you are always going to get that at home, certainly in domestic competition. 

“We have to keep finding a way whether a team comes and presses us, or they do half and half or they drop off. We have to find the ways and different players are needed for different games.”

When asked about the recruitment plans for the summer, the manager insists focus is on the remainder of the season but is pleased with the progress behind the scenes. 

He continued: “The goalposts always move but our decisions have been made and we are very clear on our decisions, and we are very aligned. My relationship with Ross [Wilson] is really strong, we are completely aligned in our decisions that we want to make. 

“Now we are in the process of wanting to communicate it and we respect that we have 10 games to go, hopefully 11 in the season so when that is communicated outwards there's a lot of moving parts in that.

“There is money to spend in the summer, it is a good amount for a Rangers manager compared to what I have seen in previous years, so I am really really positive about the summer but at the moment we are still playing in this season.”


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