Give the armchair audience a love treat

May 18 2008 By Gavin Berry

GUS MacPHERSON has told his players to showcase their skills in front of a live TV audience tomorrow and ditch any thoughts of being extras in Rangers' title crusade.

All eyes will be on the Light Blues as they aim to take another step toward the SPL crown in the tightest race for five years.

But St Mirren boss MacPherson wants his stars to show what they can do rather than just make up the numbers. The Love Street outfit are on a decent run with one defeat in the last five games and Mac wants them to keep it going despite playing for nothing more than pride.

He said: "The match is live on telly and all our players realise it will be a spotlight for them both individually and as a group.

"They will want to show what they can do and they have done that in the past on big occasions.

"Whether we play at Ibrox, Parkhead, Easter Road or Tynecastle we can go and compete and get results and this fixture will be no different.

"You always have to remember who you're facing and the level we'll need to reach.

"When you win these type of games they're labelled meaningless and when you don't you're open to criticism.

"It's a no-win situation but we've said for the last seven or eight matches the lads are playing for professional pride.

"It's the most important characteristic any player should have. They won't want to let themselves down and that's the motivation.

"Gretna have adopted the same approach despite being relegated. We drew 0-0 with them and saw how hard they worked so it was no surprise they beat Hearts in midweek.

"People are a bit disrespectful at times and think teams - whoever it may be - just have to turn up and get the result.

"We must work as hard as we have all season and make it as competitive a game as possible."

Ibrox gaffer Walter Smith (far left) can't afford any slip-ups as the battle for SPL supremacy goes to the wire but MacPherson insists his side will take no extra motivation from the fact the title race is so close.

He said: "We owe it to ourselves and nobody else. The bigger picture has nothing to do with St Mirren, only Rangers and Celtic."

Mac also paid tribute to his former club for reaching the UEFA Cup Final despite their defeat to Zenit St Petersburg.

He said: "I watched the match and Rangers were beaten by the better team but you can never forget their fantastic achievement in getting there."