Ryan has Friday on his mind
Thursday, 12th Aug 2021“You know you are going to be under the cosh but you need to make sure you don’t get caught up in the atmosphere and play the game plan the manager has set out.”
Ryan Dow made his comeback in last Saturday’s home match against Partick Thistle and has come through that even better than he expected. His return was a little quicker than he had anticipated but he claimed it was a great relief after an absence of six months:-
“I maybe did not expect to be involved quite so soon but I trained last week and felt quite good considering the time I had been out. When I got put into the squad it was a boost to be involved. From a personal point of view it was nice to get back on the pitch but I would have liked to have come on in different circumstances.”
Now the 30 year old midfielder who joined Dunfermline in May 2019 is seeking more minutes on the pitch and hopes to play a part in the Premier Sports Cup against Rangers on Friday night. Rangers are massive favourites but he hopes that the pressure is on the home side following three disappointing results for them.
“They are a top team and they showed that last season. This is the first time in maybe a year that they have had bad results. You might think they are a wee bit more vulnerable but you can look at it the other way that they might be even more determined on Friday to put things right.
“We will expect some kind of backlash but we will go there with our game plan and hopefully there will be some sort of vulnerability if there is a crowd in there. We will try and get them on their backs but they are a quality team, they have a quality squad so, even if it is against the players who have not played on Tuesday night, I’m sure they can bring in another eleven that will make them equally as strong.”
Dunfermline’s stated aim is to win promotion this season and the match against the Scottish champions in front of what should be a near capacity crowd, will be a good measure as to how far away Dunfermline are from competing in the top league. Just two years ago Dunfermline took Celtic to extra time at this stage of the same competition and Ryan feels that a similar mentality is required on Friday night. He has played against Rangers at Ibrox before with both Dundee United and Ross County but he feels that you can take too much from the experience.
“They are different games, and I’m now at a different team. The only thing you can take from the experience is the atmosphere because now it will be back to full capacity. You know you are going to be under the cosh but you need to make sure you don’t get caught up in the atmosphere and play the game plan the manager has set out.”
Ryan has good memories from winning at Ibrox in the semi final of the 2014 Scottish Cup. It was a really strange day and although there were 11,000 Dundee United fans at Ibrox, he recalled that it still felt like an away game:-
“Rangers back then were in League One but it was great to get the win and I always remember being behind Nadir Ciftci when he scored the goal to make it 3-1. It was a great feeling because you kind of knew then you were going through to a Scottish Cup Final.”
Now more than seven years on Rangers are Scottish champions and the Ibrox faithful will have great expectations of a comfortable win over the Championship visitors but to create frustration and a situation where they start venting their concerns is always the ambition of an away team — at any ground but especially at Ibrox when there will be potentially 50,000 fans there. Ryan continued:-
“You want a really good start and if there is an atmosphere you want to dampen it down and get them to maybe turn of their players if you manage to nick a goal. It will be tough but as an away team you want to stifle them for the first 20 minutes and make it difficult. They are top quality players and I’m sure they can handle it if it gets a bit sticky. But we will look to play our game and hopefully it all goes well.”
Ryan came through the youth system at Dundee United and made 112 appearances for the Tannadice side before leaving to join Ross County in 2016. Discounting the penalty shoot out defeat to St Johnstone, United inflicted Rangers first defeat in domestic competition since December 2020. Can Dunfermline take anything from Ryan’s former club’s success?
“It’s a combination of things — let’s be honest, Rangers need to have an off day and Dundee United did well against them. You can’t just let Rangers attack you and hope for the best because nine times out of 10 they will break you down. We will be going there and hope to do what Dundee United did last week.
“Going away to Ibrox we are not going to have loads of the ball or loads of chances but when chances do come around you are just hoping that you take them. I think Dundee United had a good shape and a good game plan and I’m sure us — and every other team in the country — will be trying to do the same. Watching Rangers last year they are quality and we are hoping they have an off day and we all have a brilliant day.
“The Dundee United result shows you it is possible but we can’t go in there all guns blazing because they’ve had few bad results and think we can turn them over. It’s still Rangers away at Ibrox although you can’t go in there already defeated, it’s finding that balance. We will be under the cosh and they will have a backlash because of the last few results. We need to go in with our game plan and hopefully it works.”
Ryan has only been back in training for two weeks and it is his first experience of the new manager, Peter Grant.
“I have enjoyed it, we are playing a different formation and a different style. There are also new faces in so obviously it will take a bit of time to gel. Everyone is really enjoying trying to play football in this different style.
“People could say that it will take a while but they enjoyed it in the group stages. We need to put on a performance, we were all disappointed after the game against Partick. We’re off the back of a poor performance and defeat as well, so we need to put it right for ourselves and our supporters.
“We are going into a game where we are not expected to get much, so maybe we can go and put the game at the weekend to bed with a good strong performance although it will not get any easier trying to put that right on Friday night against Rangers.”
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