Peter Lovenkrands reckons the experience in the Rangers squad should give them an edge in Sunday’s Championship play-off. Manager Stuart McCall will take his side into the quarter-final second-leg against Queen of the South holding a 2-1 advantage from the first match in Dumfries last weekend. Rangers are aiming for their third successive promotion and a place in the Scottish Premiership, with their expensively assembled squad. Hibs will play the winners of the tie, with Motherwell, Ross County or Kilmarnock awaiting the team that progresses from that double-header. But while Former Ibrox winger Lovenkrands believes the current squad are good enough to reach the top flight, he is convinced Dave King will have to splash the cash to get the squad up to the standard required to challenge the likes of Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee United, Inverness and Hearts.
He said: "Some of the players they have in the team are what Rangers need to go through this. You have players like Kenny Miller and Lee McCullloch and Kris Boyd around the team who are very, very experienced and played at the highest levels around the world. They have to take that into these games and help the players who haven’t got that. It’s a good mix and match between older and younger players. Rangers do have a good squad to go up but I think they have to strengthen if they get into the Premiership. I don’t think they will be getting top four in the first year unless they go out and invest in good players. They need more players, more experience playing in higher levels. They will struggle to finish top four in the first year but then after that they will find their feet and build a team to up to the top."
Lovenkrands believes the hard work was done by Rangers in the first leg with Queen of the South on Palmerston’s synthetic surface. He said: "I think at home they will definitely get through. They take two away goals back to Ibrox and I don’t think it will be a problem. It will be a difficult game but it’s a totally different game than the first one on the Astroturf pitch. I think it will suit Rangers a lot more and I think they will definitely get through that. They will have the momentum going through if they get by Queen of the South. Also, Hibs have had a long break, a long waiting in time for this game coming along. So I think Rangers will be in a better position going into the game. But I do worry that rest for Hibs won’t be good for Rangers, they will be fresher going into that game. And they’re playing really good football at the moment. They’ve got a lot of confidence, finishing higher in the league. I think they have the upper hand going into that game."