Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou wants his side to make Rangers chase the ball when the teams meet again this weekend, with the Fir Park side looking to turn another tight contest into a result that keeps their European push alive. Rangers drew 1-1 with Motherwell on the opening day of the season, and the sides were also locked at 1-1 at Fir Park in February.
Askou said the aim is to stress Rangers early, make them work without the ball and force a game that becomes uncomfortable for them. He pointed to the last meeting in Govan, when Rangers won 1-0 at Ibrox, as proof that Motherwell know how narrow this fixture can be. Rangers, he said, have handled the pressure on them since the start of the season extremely well and arrive this time in a stronger place than they were when Motherwell last faced them.
The numbers underline why this is more than another routine league match. Motherwell are winless in five, yet still sit among the season's surprise packages and remain in the hunt for Europe with Hibs on their tail. They have also built one of the best defensive records in the division, which gives Askou a platform even as the recent form has dipped.
Rangers, meanwhile, recovered from being 2-0 down away to Falkirk in their last league match before coming back to win 6-3, a result that offered another reminder of the firepower they can produce when a game opens up. That is the danger Askou is trying to manage: if Motherwell can keep Rangers chasing, they may drag the match into a pattern that suits them; if they cannot, Rangers have already shown they can turn a shaky start into a rout.
The fixture also lands at a point where the league picture is tightening again. Going into the last five matches, Rangers were a point behind Hearts and three ahead of Celtic, a position that leaves little margin for mistakes and adds extra weight to every home result at Ibrox. Motherwell have already shown they can trouble Rangers twice this season with those 1-1 draws, but Askou knows the challenge is not just repeating that pattern. It is forcing Rangers into a game they do not want to play, and doing it against a side that has learned to ride out pressure better than it did earlier in the campaign.