Lee Wallace keen for Rangers to build momentum ahead of Celtic showdown

LEE WALLACE has urged Rangers to take care of business against Partick Thistle and ensure the Light Blues swagger into their showdown with Celtic.

Rangers have a double-header against Alan Archibald’s men coming up, with a Ladbrokes Premiership trip to the Jags on Friday night preceding Tuesday’s Firhill return for the Betfred Cup quarter-final.

Wallace knows once those clashes are out of the way, the countdown to the opening Old Firm duel of the season on September 23 will begin in earnest.

However, after putting their troubled start to the campaign behind them with back-to-back wins over Ross County and Dundee, the club captain reckons his side are hitting form at just the right time.

“Yes we are,” he said. “We know first and foremost we’ve got two difficult games against Thistle who’ll be looking for their first win of the league season.

“They have caused us problems before and we realise they’ve got a couple of good individuals that will be threats.

“We’ll look to try and win both games and take it from there.”

Pedro Caixinha urges Rangers to be wary of Partick Thistle’s threat

Boss Pedro Caixinha has made 11 new signings this summer and it will be a vastly different Rangers line-up facing the Hoops next weekend to the squad twice thrashed 5-1 by their bitter rivals last term.

But Wallace insists he does not have to spell out the importance of the upcoming derby clash to any of Caixinha’s foreign recruits.

He said: “The new guys can see what next week’s game is all about for themselves.

“Obviously the fact Celtic were playing in a Champions League game this week against a top-class opponent shows where they are now.

“So there’ll be no need to say too much. Once we get Thistle out of the way the build-up will start and we all know the intensity that surrounds that game.

“The guys in the dressing room will be well-prepared for that match.”

Wallace has been encouraged by the strides Gers have made in recent weeks.

The addition of Colombian frontman Alfredo Morelos has been key to those improvements, with the £1million signing from HJK Helsinki grabbing seven goals in his last five appearances.

But Wallace expects more to come as Morelos finds his feet at Ibrox.

He said: “Alfredo is a real goalscorer. The first thing I noticed was during a small drill in his first training session.

“Every single shot Alfredo took was (in the) back of the net into the corners. His instinctive finishing is impressive.

“That’s going to benefit us moving forward. He’s scoring goals now and is starting to learn his way with the language. He’s having two or three lessons a week to get up to speed.

“In terms of his football language, he is learning out there every day with the manager and we can see the hard work he is putting in on the training ground to get his game sorted.

“It is an added bonus that Alfredo has come in and done really well, it’s vital for us.”