Hardie eyes Ibrox win

"Every club has a barren spell where they don't beat the Old Firm on their home ground so records are made to be broken.

Martin Hardie feels very frustrated having to watch football from the sidelines and he is just delighted that he is back in contention for a starting place. Having lined up for the Pars first five SPL matches Martin has been out since the game against Motherwell at the end of August.

After a brief outing off the bench at Easter Road, he returned as a substitute for the final quarter of the game against Aberdeen last Saturday and now hope to savour his SPL experience right up to the end of season.

"I can remember the first time I played at Ibrox with Partick Thistle it was a blur. They scored in about three seconds and we lost 3-0. I won once in a League Cup game, St Johnstone beat them 2-0 when Paul Le Guen was the manager. Steven Milne scored two absolute crackers, one was an overhead kick. We were in the First Division, Owen Coyle was the manager and we played 4-4-2. We created three or four good chances and scored two of them."

Martin knows that Dunfermline, like St Johnstone that November night five years ago, will have to be exceptional and it will be important to take any chances that come your way.

"We need to keep possession of the ball when we do get it and keep the ball off them. We will need to defend in numbers and sometimes it can be last ditch tackles. For the majority of the game possession of the ball is key.

"Unfortunately we have a few injuries and don't have the biggest of squads so we will have to bring some young players in."

Big Martin was complimentary about the two members of the under 19 squad who have been training with the first team squad.

"They have come into the squad and fair play to them they have not looked out of place especially the young midfielder Shaun Byrne. He has got a bright future ahead of him."

Whether or not those youngsters actually come off the bench, a Dunfermline league victory at Ibrox has only happened three times and the most recent was at the end of season 1971-72 when Rangers were in the midst of having to play eight matches in sixteen days. It's a record that many would like to re-write but for Martin anything would be welcome.

"Every club has a barren spell where they don't beat the Old Firm on their home ground so records are made to be broken. But if we manage take even a point from the game it would be a point more than you would expect at the start of the season. It is going to be a hard task against the Champions of Scottish football and we are under no illusions it is going to be a hard ninety minutes.

"We need to have belief, we need to be brave to take the ball and you could be chasing shadows all day. If our attacking players can create a couple of chances, you never know something could pop up."