St Mirren boss McLeish plays down Rangers' poor start

Premier Sports Cup holders St Mirren go to Ibrox with confidence, but not because they are anticipating vulnerability from Rangers, insists head coach Craig McLeish. The Paisley side have started the season with two Premiership victories after topping their cup group, while the hosts are yet to pick up a win in four games under Derek McInnes. However, McLeish is not reading too much into early form as he prepares for the last 16 tie. "Taking away Rangers' situation, we have to go into any game confident that we can win it and that's what we're going to do," he said. "There's no good time to play Rangers or Celtic away from home. "People will talk or there'll be noise about what they're doing at the moment, but they're still a very good team, a very good outfit, well-coached, well-drilled and have some real top quality players that can hurt you any moment. "You can't go into it thinking that they're vulnerable or whatever. They're a very good team. "But at the same time we've brought a group of boys together here who don't go anywhere with any sort of fear and you have to find the balance of it and not leave yourself exposed." In three league meetings with Rangers last term, St Mirren suffered two narrow defeats after an August draw at home. McLeish was at Ibrox on Thursday to watch McInnes's team exit Europa League qualifying after a 1-1 draw with Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok, with home supporters in a furious mood. "That stuff's always there," he said of the booing at full-time. "I experienced that here as well, any time you lose a game or moments aren't going well for you. All it takes is one goal, one result and everyone's back feeling good. "Rangers have such a strong group of players and they'll continue to add to it throughout this window. "There's never a time where you go and they are there for the taking. You have to prepare for them as best you can and not take your eye off the ball."