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Barrie McKay aiming to appease Rangers fans by denying Celtic an unprecedented treble
BARRIE MCKAY knows what it would mean to the Rangers fans to burst Celtic’s treble dream by lifting the Scottish Cup.
By
Scott Burns
PUBLISHED:
22:46, Wed, Jan 18, 2017
| UPDATED: 22:56, Wed, Jan 18, 2017
GETTY
Barrie McKay wants to stop Celtic from winning the treble
The Light Blues kick off that mission on Saturday with a potentially tricky fourth-round tie against top-flight rivals Motherwell at Ibrox.
With Brendan Rodgers’ men having claimed the Betfred Cup in November and out of sight at the top of the Premiership, the Scottish Cup represents the only realistic opportunity for another team to deny them a clean sweep of domestic trophies this term.
And winger McKay hopes that proves to be Rangers.
“Definitely,” he said. “To stop them getting the treble – the fans would be as happy as us winning it.
“Every cup, we go into to win. To get silverware on the board, it would mean a lot to the boys and the club to keep adding to the trophies we have already.”
GETTY
Rangers want to win the Scottish Cup
Going all the way to Hampden and lifting the famous old trophy on May 27 would also go some way to easing Rangers’ pain of losing out to Hibs last season.
McKay said: “We worked so hard to get there, as did Hibs, but to be beaten at that final hurdle hurt a lot and it took a while to stop running through our minds.
“You come to a club like Rangers to win trophies.”
McKay can’t wait to return to competitive action, especially after the Gers went into the winter break on the back of a 2-1 loss to their Old Firm rivals at Ibrox.
The 22-year-old said: “After the Celtic defeat you just want the next game to come as fast as possible.
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“In that sense the break was maybe not at a good time for us. But it gives you a chance to get a rest from it all, go away and recharge for the second half of the season.”
Rangers were thrashed 4-0 by high-flying Bundesliga side RB Leipzig in a friendly in Germany last weekend.
However, McKay did earn praise from Leipzig’s £13million winger Ollie Burke.
He described his fellow Scotland international as a “great player” who could star at the top level in England.
McKay said: “It’s obviously good to see your fellow professionals picking up on how you are playing.
“It’s a bit of a confidence boost for me as well. I got a lot of criticism at the start of the season, and rightly so. I wasn’t playing as well as I know I can and had been. To be able to get that form back is good for me personally and to help the team.
“The gaffer took me out the firing line and gave me a bit of a well-needed rest and it seems to have worked. I have a lot of games under my belt.
“I’m not a little kid any more. It’s up to me to take that responsibility of helping the team more.”
When McKay felt down about flak over his early-season form, he took inspiration from Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard.
“Hazard is one of the best in the world at what he does and where he plays,” added McKay, who was speaking at the launch of the EA FIFA 17 game zone at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden.
“I look at the criticism he took last season, but now he is back and flying again. It shows how fast things can change, especially the way the start of my season went.”
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