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Saturday May 30, 2009

Falkirk out to kill Rangers’ double bid

GLASGOW: League champions Rangers will be aiming to make it a double as they take on Falkirk in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden today.

Fresh from their league success the Glasgow giants are the red-hot favourites to lift the trophy for the 33rd time against a Falkirk side who finished tenth in the league.

Walter Smith’s men are on a high after they wrestled the title away from Old Firm rivals Celtic for the first time in four years with a final day thrashing of Dundee United on Sunday and will want to retain the trophy they won last season against Queen of the South.

John Hughes’ Bairns are also buzzing after they secured their Scottish Premier League status with a win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle on the last day of the season.

The Ibrox side defeated the Bairns on their last encounter at the national stadium when Rangers booked their place in this year’s League Cup final with a 3-0 semi-final win.

And Rangers were on the winning side on the three occasions the teams clashed in the league.

But Gers’ defender Steven Whittaker has warned his team-mates they have to be on their guard against a buoyant Falkirk if they are to claim a domestic double.

Whittaker said: “Having the chance to do the Scottish Cup and League Championship double is fantastic for us. We will be gunning to do that this Saturday.

“We have won every game that we have played against Falkirk this season, but they have been tricky opponents.

“They keep the ball well and while we have managed to sneak a couple of results we know they are more than capable of winning against anybody on their day.

“We will need to be at our best. They were in danger of getting relegated and got the result against Inverness they needed to stay up.

“They will be on a high as well. But hopefully we can take our high from the weekend and come out on top.”

Walter Smith has several injury worries ahead of his side’s final game of the season.

Portuguese midfielder Pedro Mendes and American Maurice Edu are both struggling with knocks sustained in Sunday’s league championship decider against Dundee United.

This could open the door to Lee McCulloch and Barry Ferguson, who could make his first start since March 21 following substitute appearances in the final two games of the season.

It would cap a remarkable turnaround for the former skipper who was dropped from the first team and stripped of the captaincy following his behaviour while away with the national team in April.

Falkirk are in the Scottish Cup final for the first time since 1997 when they were narrowly beaten by Kilmarnock.

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