Dundee 2
Hamilton Academical 1
League (First Division)

Manager's Programme Notes

Belated as it may be, can I first of all wish everyone a very Happy New year.

The dreadful cold weather meant that we have not played at all in the last few weeks and even finding somewhere decent to train presented problems.

Happily, the weather improved this week and it is good to be back in action again.

The only games which have ahead over the festive perioda gone the ones played on heated pitches and that is perhaps something we will have to look at in the future. Rangers have proved how valuable playing and winning games can be when you are at the top and this all helps confidence in the camp.

But for now, we must start 1996 in a more positive vein at home. All season we have struggled at home and our priority must be ensuring that we match our away form here at Dens Park.

Not that this will be easy against a Hamilton side which has shown great improvement as the season has progressed. Not withstanding that they have proven difficult opponents in our two previous meetings and showed in their last outing at Tannadice that they are in a false position at the foot of the table.

Unfortunately, the enforced inactivity caused by the weather hasn't shortened our casualty list as much as I would have hoped. Roddy Manley, Ray Farningham and Neil McCann are all still out and Paul Tosh is suspended, but we should be able to welcome back Jim Hamilton this afternoon.

What we now have to do is get back to playing the way we did before the Coca-Cola Cup Final and hopefully the recent break will see our batteries recharged and give us the appetite back for the second half of the season when the promotion race will intensify.