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Saturday, 04 May 2013, 12:45

Scottish Third

McCoist hopes to keep players

Rangers manager Ally McCoist hopes to hold on to all of his players in the January transfer window.

Last Updated: 28/12/12 at 17:30 Post Comment

Ally McCoist: Unable to sign players

Ally McCoist: Unable to sign players

A year-long signing ban means the Light Blues boss is unable to strengthen his own squad in January.

McCoist will be able to negotiate pre-contract agreements next month, and register free agents on September 1, but is unable to buy any new players until January 2014.

Those restrictions mean McCoist would be extremely reluctant to witness the departure of any of his current pool, but could find his star performers targeted by other clubs.

He said: "It goes with the territory, there is no use worrying about it.

"We hope it won't be the case because we've got a small enough squad at the moment and it's been well enough documented that we can't bring anybody in.

"I would be disappointed to lose anybody. It's a bridge we would cross if we came to it but, at this moment in time, there is nothing happening.

"I would be very hopeful we would continue with the squad that we have."

The new year is traditionally a period when Rangers would be preparing to face Celtic in what would be a highly-anticipated Old Firm clash.

Their status as an Third Division club this season means there will be no meetings with their city rivals for the foreseeable future, unless the two sides are paired together in cup competition.

However, Rangers do have a Glagow derby to look forward to on Saturday, when they travel to Hampden to face Queen's Park.

McCoist said: "Of course you miss the Old Firm games, they are fantastic fixtures.

"You miss the excitement, the drama, the sick feeling in your stomach - everything that goes with it.

"At the same time, we have known for a while that we're not going to have one, especially in the league, that's for sure.

"But we have got another one, it's one of the oldest derbies in world football and it's something we're looking forward to.

"The Rangers-Celtic game, for the vast majority of people, is one of the biggest games in the country.

"But this is a big game for both clubs at Hampden tomorrow and we will be looking to continue our good form."

Queen's Park have sold out their allocation of 2327 tickets for the visit of Rangers, a 300% increase on their usual home support at the national stadium.

The visitors had sold more than 25,000 tickets as of Friday afternoon and, with a total allocation of 40,000 seats available to Rangers fans, that number could swell further by kick-off.

McCoist said: "I know they have sold a large amount of tickets for this game and it goes without saying that the vast majority of them have been taken up by Rangers supporters.

"It should be a good day. It's a Glasgow derby and we are playing a team who have a couple of games in hand and who are sitting in a good position in the league.

"We have already played them this season and they are extremely well organised and gave us a difficult game at Ibrox.

"I would be very hopeful that our fans again would turn out in magnificent numbers for what will be in a strange way an away fixture at Hampden."

Meanwhile, McCoist insists Rangers players blessing themselves before games is not an issue at the club.

The manager was responding to quotes attributed to striker Francisco Sandaza in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

He said: "It's not even an issue for us. It never mattered to me before and it won't matter to me in the future. It's not an issue for us at all."

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