Division Three
January 2, 2013
Annan Athletic
1 - 3
Rangers
Division Three
12:45 +00:00, January 2, 2013
Galabank Stadium
Referee: S Finnie
Annan hopeful on Hopkirk
Team Stat Comparison
| Annan Athletic | Rangers | |
|---|---|---|
| Matches Played | 36 | 36 |
| Table Position | 8 | 1 |
| Points | 43 | 83 |
| Goal Difference | -11 | 58 |
| Goals for * | 1.7 | 2.4 |
| Goals against * | 1.4 | 0.9 |
| Last 5 | D-W-L-W-W | W-W-L-W-W |
| Last 5 home | D-L-W-D-L | W-L-W-D-L |
| Last 5 away | W-W-L-W-L | W-W-D-W-D |
| * Goals per match - home matches for home club and away matches for away club | ||
| Stats: Annan Athletic | Rangers | ||
Competition Stats
| Annan Athletic | Rangers | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals |
|
|
| Assists |
|
|
| Yellows |
|
|
| Reds |
|
|
| Squads: Annan Athletic | Rangers | ||
Annan hope to bring Queen of the South midfielder David Hopkirk to the club on a permanent basis ahead of kick-off against Rangers.
The 19-year-old had a successful loan spell at Galabank earlier this season and interim manager Euan Brydson expects a deal will be done before the visit of Ally McCoist's men.
Defender Peter Watson returns after a one-game ban with Graeme Ramage a doubt after picking up a knock in Saturday's 2-0 win over Elgin.
Brydson said: "This game is a huge one for the club but when you consider it is only my third game in charge and I want the job it is a huge one for me also.
"We are going into it on a win and I cannot ask for any more than that.''
Rangers manager Ally McCoist does not expect David Templeton to have any trepidation when he returns to Annan Athletic's artificial pitch on Wednesday afternoon.
The Light Blues winger was carried off on a stretcher with ankle ligament damage when the two sides fought out a goalless draw at Galabank on September 15, which the Ibrox club partly blamed on their hosts' third generation pitch.
Templeton was out until early December but has since played on artificial turf at Montrose and McCoist expects the former Hearts player to erase any bad memories he may have of his last visit to Annan.
Rangers struggled to create chances at Annan but were off form in general on their away trips at that stage of their Irn-Bru Third Division campaign and have since scored 10 goals in two games on similar surfaces at Ochilview and Links Park.
McCoist said: "I would expect to get the exact same as we got the last time at Annan.
"The welcome we got was fantastic but it stopped as soon as that first whistle was blown by the referee.''