By Gary Kirkpatrick

Rangers Women boss Amy MacDonald was delighted with her team’s application and effort after her side’s goalless draw with Celtic yesterday.

With one win apiece between the two Glasgow rivals this season, a win for either would provide a healthy confidence boost heading into the final stretch of SWPL fixtures.

A win may have pushed Rangers further from the bottom end of the table and closer to Celtic, who sit third.

However, the Blues had to settle for a point but through the eyes of manager MacDonald, this was a very valuable point and she expressed her pleasure in seeing her players give their all for the cause.

Speaking of the result, she said: “It’s testament to the girls to be honest because they continued to believe in what we are trying to achieve.

“We’ve really pushed them physically, probably emotionally and mentally as well over the last couple of weeks.

“You can see that they are taking (the tactics) in so we need to build on that.”

Rangers have the opportunity to carry their positivity into their next game – a difficult trip to league leaders Glasgow City, who sit first on goal difference with Hibernian.

And MacDonald is upbeat about Rangers’ chances against the country’s best, taking their last encounter into consideration.

She continued, saying: “Everything we are doing just now is in our own control. We need to go out and believe we can compete (against Glasgow City).

“We proved we can in the last game we played against City and that’s the performances that we need to go and build on.

“We need to take our opportunities and try and get a result.”

The Scotland women’s national side know a thing or two about taking their chances in big moments, as they qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in their existence.

The girls triumphed in a 2-1 win over Albania which secured their place at the prestigious tournament next summer.

MacDonald stressed the importance of watching the crucial match and pushed training back in order to see the national side play.

“It’s fantastic to be honest – it’s a recognition that the girls deserve”, said the Rangers boss.

“When Scotland qualified, we delayed the start of training and we made sure we were watching it.

“I was sitting with a lump in my throat. It’s a fantastic achievement and it will hopefully give the women’s game a kick.”

Image credit: Rangers Women FC