Annan Athletic boss urges players to focus on Stenhousemuir, not Rangers

Annan boss Peter Murphy has warned his players to forget about Rangers and focus on tomorrow’s clash with Stenhousemuir.

The club, players and officials have all been besieged for tickets for Galabankies’ Scottish Cup last-16 encounter at home to Rangers next Saturday.

But Murphy stressed that three points from the Stenny home tussle and maintaining their unbeaten run should be their top priority.

He said: “There has been a big demand for the Rangers tickets, but I have told the players to concentrate on this league game.

“Stenny have beaten us before so we have to be very aware that they do pose a threat.

“And we need to get wins on the board, it was good to keep the unbeaten run going last weekend but it would have been better with a win rather than the draw given the position we are in.

“They are a tough side to play against and have just suffered a little bit of inconsistency.

“The last time we played them they were on an unbeaten run of four or five games.

“They have dropped off since then but they can never be underestimated.

“But they got a win last week after going 2-0 up and sitting on it but they were well worth their win, so we have just to be wary of them.

“Robert Thomson gives them an extra bit of fire power and we need to watch him.”

Meanwhile, the cup tie fever is rising as Annan gear up for the visit of the Scottish Premiership champions next week.

The game has a 5.30pm kick-off due to it being screened live on Premier Sports.

Murphy declared: “It’s the biggest game in the club’s history with playing the champions.

“We played them before in the cup a few years back, but Rangers were a lower league club then.

“I think their fans are getting 1,000 tickets and the capacity is going to be 2,500 so there will