Rocket Darche is ready to lift off in run-in for Smith

Whittaker: Darcheville 'is the type who can create something from nothing'
14 April 2012

Walter Smith has backed Jean-Claude Darcheville to be a vital player for Rangers in the title run-in after the Frenchman's last-gasp winner in Inverness.

• More Rangers news

The substitute struck his seventh goal in an injury-interrupted season for a 1-0 victory in the Highlands that opened up a four-point lead over Celtic.

Smith refused to excuse his side's dreadful first-half display but identified fit-again Darcheville as a man who can influence their silverware aspirations.

Midfielder Kevin Thomson is to have a hernia operation and could be ruled out until March but the manager doesn't expect any new signings before the close of this month's transfer window.

"Jean-Claude can play a big role for us in the second half of the season - in fact he could have a very significant role," said Smith. "The more we get to know him as a player, the more we are learning about training and so on. We're looking at the physical side and the sports science side to try to keep him fit.

"Sometimes substitutions work for you as a manager and sometimes they don't. Fortunately, over the last two games with Inverness and Gretna, they have worked. And it is just as well because, for spells in both of those games, we haven't hit the standard we need."

Smith admitted Rangers were nursing a sense of grievance at Charlie Adam's disallowed goal after 72 minutes, a linesman flagging against striker Daniel Cousin to change referee Charlie Richmond's mind.

"I was disappointed with the goal that was disallowed," the Ibrox manager said. "I felt it was clear-cut and should have stood.

"It was a hard-fought three points in many ways. We did not do well at all in the first half and hardly troubled their keeper. At least we carried a bit of a threat in the second period. We have to take the game by the scruff of the neck more.

"I just felt we had to apply more pressure on Inverness and Jean-Claude can do that for us. Normally, it might have been a fixture for Kris Boyd but I felt Jean-Claude's pace might trouble them as we hadn't been threatening enough in the box.

"I don't know how important this victory can be for us. There's a long way to go before we know what it might mean. You cannot tell at this stage. We've been indifferent for parts of a couple of games but managed to get the win. We must cut that indifference out, though.

"The performances will have to be better. We've dropped below the level but, in the end, it was a great win for us."

Rangers right-back Steven Whittaker also heaped praise on Darcheville for his match-winning contribution.

"Jean-Claude is a key player and the more games he gets, the better," he said. "He is the type who can create something from nothing. You always hope he can get a goal and Jean-Claude definitely lifts the guys when he is around.

"Darche has a bit of pace that makes it hard for defenders. And he has a good football brain, so the opposition don't fancy facing guys like him. We started pressing halfway through the second half because we felt a goal was there for us. We were not going to stop until the referee's final whistle. We were determined to get the three points if we could.

"You cannot play brilliantly every week and, sometimes, you have to grind out results. It is exciting when you steal the points in the last minute and our reaction showed that. 'Any cushion at the top of the league is helpful."

Smith confirmed midfielder Thomson will be out for four to six weeks with his surgery, while he had no indication that defender Alan Hutton has changed his mind on a move to Tottenham.

"Alan has stated his case - he has said he's happy to stay to the end of the season at least," added Smith.

Goalkeeper Roy Carroll had a back injury yesterday, with former Killie player Graeme Smith on the bench.

Defenders Steven Smith and Andy Webster will face Dumbarton in a bounce game today as they make comebacks after lengthy injury absences.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in