Dinky eyes up dream double

Jan 6 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

Dinky eyes up dream double

KEVIN Rutkiewicz insists he’d gladly trade a cup win over Rangers for the security of a league championship medal.

The St Johnstone skipper yesterday received the PA Sport/George Wimpey player of the month award for December and immediately set his sights on next Tuesday’s televised Homecoming Scottish Cup clash with the Ibrox side.

The defender was utterly dejected when Saints lost out to Rangers in a nerve-jangling semi-final penalty shoot-out at Hampden in April.

And he’d love to give Perth fans cause for celebration next week.

But Rutkiewicz admits the bigger picture is bagging a return ticket to the SPL.

“Don’t get me wrong, we want to win this cup tie. But the priority is the league title. I would take a drubbing if it guaranteed us the title! We want to be looking forward to regular games against the Old Firm and not just one-off cup ties.

“It will be a great night and it’s the first time since I came here from Aberdeen that we’ve played Rangers or Celtic in Perth. We are facing the cream of Premier League players so it’s a great chance to test ourselves.”

Rutkiewicz has been in fine form this term but admits his A-game will be required to shut out 20-goal Kris Boyd, the country’s most prolific scorer.

He said: “Trying to stop Kris scoring will be a personal target for me. I would love to keep him quiet.

“It’s going to be difficult and Rangers have quality all over. Kris is incredible in front of goal and I can’t think of many strikers who can put the ball away like him. He looked sharp in their win over Inverness Caley Thistle on Sunday.

“But we have to be confident in our approach to the game. Otherwise there’s no point taking part. It will be up to older players like myself to make sure the younger guys have belief and enjoy the occasion.”

Rutkiewicz wants to reward Perth fans who have turned out in numbers for big cup games over the last two seasons. Saints famously beat Rangers at Ibrox in the League Cup under Owen Coyle.

“We gave Rangers a real fright at Hampden last year and we were a bit unlucky. But this time we have them on our own patch,” said Rutkiewicz.

“We will show Rangers respect but we won’t fear them. It’s a chance to show the SPL standard isn’t far away for us.”

The defender was disappointed that the weekend clash with Ross County was postponed.

He said: “It means a long time to go without a competitive game. But the focus is on the Rangers game and while we have a few injury worries by Friday the build-up will be well under way and we’ll have 26 bodies training! The place is already buzzing and they’ll be fully fit, charged up and ready to go.”

Rutkiewicz is looking for a performance to spur Saints on to glory.

He said: “Hopefully the cup tie will be a springboard for the league. Results went for us again at the weekend and it will be back to league business against Partick Thistle. We will want three points and go on from there. There seems to be a different spin on the league each week but we are top and it would be great to stay there.”

Manager Derek McInnes said: “This is a deserved award for Dinky. He has brought a level of consistency to his game this season and for my money he’s the best defender in the division. He always had aggression but now it is more controlled. He has a big influence on the team.”