McCulloch relieved as Rangers cast aside gloom over Ibrox

Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch feared the worst when his cash-strapped club announced that a host of players would be sold in the January transfer window, but Walter Smith’s side are firmly back in the title race heading into Sunday’s showdown against Celtic.

It was doom and gloom at Ibrox as key men Kris Boyd, Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor were linked with big-money moves to English teams.

But despite all the speculation, Smith?s first-team squad was left virtually untouched and McCulloch believes the whole experience will have made the group stronger in their bid to land a first league title in four years.

Rangers are now just two points behind Celtic and could reach the summit of the table with a win at the home of their bitter rivals this weekend.

That result will, McCulloch accepts, have huge significance but perhaps not as much as when the transfer window slammed shut at 1700GMT on February 1.

“The speculation played in a lot of the players’ minds and I’m sure a lot of them were just happy when the window closed.” he said

“The way it’s been going off the pitch has been difficult, but we have stuck by our job on the pitch pretty well. The stuff that’s written or said seems to have passed, for a while anyway.

“I think belief has been crucial. We’ve had to ignore a lot of the things that are being said. We have gained a mental strength from the start of the season which has been needed.

“You could say that?s what we perhaps lacked last season and why we didn’t win the league.”

Since losing to Celtic at Ibrox at the end of December, Rangers have rediscovered their form and a six-match unbeaten run has seen them crank up the pressure on the leaders.

That sequence of results was produced in the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the club but now comes the acid test for Smith’s improving side.

McCulloch, 30, added: “They are favourites to win as it’s a very difficult place to go. They are a quality team and have won the championship three times in a row. But we will go there and do our best.

“You don’t want to go and lose but it wouldn’t be over if we did. It would be close to being over, but there would still be a lot of big games to play.

“We want to try and go there and win. They have got the mental strength that we’re slowly starting to get.”

While McCulloch, who has played in a variety of positions this season, is a battle-hardened veteran, Rangers team-mate John Fleck is starting out on his career.

The 17-year-old has started just four games but is already being tipped for a bright future and could be handed a first Old Firm start on Sunday.

“I think he’s ready to play in the Old Firm game, he’s certainly good enough,” McCulloch said. “He has been like a new signing for us but I just hope we don’t get carried away with him.

“The management and the players won’t but it’s whether the press start making him out to be the next Wayne Rooney or not. He has got a long way to go before reaching that level as he’s just started four games.

“With regards to playing for Scotland, it’s up to the manager but I would say he is good enough. He is a quality player and the more games he gets, the better he will become.”