Playing Rangers at temporary Hampden home not a problem for Motherwell
Rangers’ impending move to Hampden will have no bearing on their first visitors of the William Hill Premiership season.
The Govan club are expected to confirm a temporary switch to Hampden in the coming days after being hit by delays to renovation work at Ibrox.
Rangers announced last month there would be “an impact on matches at Ibrox” after a delay to material shipments from Asia held up the completion of work on the Copland Road stand.
Contingency plans now appear to have been put in place for Premiership games, Champions League qualifiers and possibly Premier Sports Cup ties to be moved across the south side of Glasgow.
Motherwell are due to play Rangers away on August 10, the second weekend of the league campaign, and manager Stuart Kettlewell is perfectly content to play at the national stadium.
“It doesn’t change anything for me at all,” he said. “I’m certainly not sitting here firing shots at anybody because of a situation.
“Very simply on the given day, we’ll have to play against Rangers. Any time we do, they’re a good side and it’s always a difficult day, it’s always a tough game.
“You’re going to a place that I know very, very well, I played a lot of games there, certainly my days at Queen’s Park.
“You’re going to one of the best stadiums in the country and what will be a big crowd and all these different factors that are always involved in it.
“But I don’t really focus on the surroundings too much. I focus on what’s on the pitch. So no excuses from our side of it, no changing our mindset and mentality, but we’ve got a few hurdles to cross before we get to that one.”
Rangers also host Ross County on August 24 – a week after the Premier Sports Cup second round – before their third home league match comes against Hibernian on September 28.
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