Stephen Dobbie may be a life-long Rangers fan, but today he hopes to put them to the sword when he lines up for Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.
The 25-year-old traveled to Manchester to cheer on the Ibrox side in the UEFA Cup Final. Dobbie was disappointed his boyhood heroes lost 2-0 to Zenit St. Petersburg, but he is now aiming to pile on the misery by helping the First Division side achieve one of the biggest shocks in Scottish soccer history.
Queen of the South will be playing in their first ever Scottish Cup final — after the Dumfries side beat Aberdeen 4-3 in the semi-final. And although Dobbie loves the Ibrox club, he would love nothing more than to deprive them of another trophy.
“I went down to Manchester for the UEFA Cup with another couple of Rangers fans from Queen of the South and we were gutted at the result,” Dobbie said. “But I’d take the same result as that game. There will be no love lost on Saturday and we’ll be going all out for the win.”
Although Rangers will be expected to be comfortable winners today, Queen of the South showed they cannot be underestimated with their famous victory over Aberdeen in the last round. Dobbie feels that result has given the team the belief they need to win the trophy.
“Beating Aberdeen gave us a lot of confidence,” he said.
With Rangers having already qualified for next season’s Champions League, Queen of the South will play in next season’s UEFA Cup even if they lose the final. Some people believe the European spot should have gone to the team finishing fourth in the Scottish Premier League, but Dobbie believes they deserve their chance.
“It’s unfair to say we shouldn’t qualify for the UEFA Cup. We earned our place in the final by beating Dundee in the quarter-finals and then Aberdeen,” Dobbie said.
The Ibrox side will be desperate to end the season by lifting the Scottish Cup to take away some of the pain of their UEFA Cup and league setbacks. A win would mean they would hold two domestic cups, having already won the League Cup.
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