McCulloch: Rangers Are Desperate For CIS Cup

Jan 27 2008 By Scott Mcdermott

Mcculloch: I Can't Wait To Taste First Moment Of Ibrox Glory Hearts V Rangers Wednesday, Kick-Off 7.45pm Live On Bbc1

LEE McCULLOCH revealed Rangers are ravenous for CIS Cup success - because most of their squad have never won a trophy.

The Ibrox midfield ace admits Walter Smith's troops speak about lifting silverware almost every day in training because it has been so long coming.

Gers' last victory at Hampden was in March 2005 when Alex McLeish led his side to CIS glory over Motherwell.

But only Barry Ferguson, Nacho Novo and Thomas Buffel are still at the club from that 5-1 win and McCulloch is desperate to savour some success.

He can't wait for Wednesday night's CIS Cup semi against Hearts and cited occasions like this as the main reason he returned to Scotland from Wigan last summer.

McCulloch said: "These games are definitely why I decided to come back, I can't wait for it.

"It has been a long while since Rangers played at Hampden. In fact it's far too long so it is great to be back there.

"Hopefully we will get a good crowd and they can help us progress to the final.

"Because the club haven't won anything for three years I wanted to try to make a difference, give the fans something to think about.

"We're still a million miles from lifting a cup but are on the right track. That's why Wednesday night is massive for us.

"It's the first semi-final for a lot of the boys in our dressing-room.

"I think the fact so many players at Rangers haven't won anything and have never played at Hampden makes us even hungrier for it.

"You can sense the desire among the lads. We speak about it most days in training - how good it would be to win one, two or maybe even three trophies this season.

"The desire is there from every one but weneed to do it on the pitch."

McCulloch can be confident that if Gers get past Jambos he won't suffer the same humiliation as in his last big cup final The Scot was in Wigan's line-up in 2006 when they lost 4-0 to a rampant Manchester United in the Carling Cup showpiece.

He will never forget that day at the Millennium Stadium - but for all the wrong reasons. And that has made Lee even more determined to collect a winner's medal this year.

He said: "I made it to the Carling Final after playing in all the games apart from the semi when I was injured against Arsenal. I came back in time for Cardiff but Man United were at their best and just far too good for us.

"Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs were on fire. It was a good day out for us - until they scored their third and fourth goals!

"But those are the games you want to play in, the family was there and the atmosphere was brilliant.

"You can't beat winner-takes-all matches and hopefully we will come out on top on Wednesday."

McCulloch is fed up hearing people say Rangers' name is on the trophy after Celtic's exit to Hearts.

He knows how dangerous Stevie Frail's side can be - they comfortably beat Gers in September then came close to a repeat at Ibrox last month. Lee can't believe they're so far down the SPL but warned his team-mates to be wary because Hearts' entire season rests on this tie.

He said: "They have made it really hard for us this campaign. They've been hot and cold but are a good side who can beat anyone.

"They have excellent players like Andrius Velicka and I'm surprised they're not higher up after what they did to us at Tynecastle.

"Even when we beat them 2-1 at home they battered us for spells. I've heard people say because Celtic are out, the cup is ours but we'll need to scrap for it on Wednesday.

"Hearts have a massive incentive because their season would be over if they lost."