Madjid Bougherra wary of Celtic

Madjid Bougherra faces two heavyweight contests over the next four weeks that will make or break his title dreams. The Rangers defender is less troubled by the thought of going toe-to-toe with Christian Nade today than he is by a Celtic side being re-energerised by its European elimination.

Bougherra believes that the fight for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League crown will go the distance, now that his Old Firm rivals are shorn of Champions League distractions. Celtic come to Ibrox on the day after Boxing Day, but first Bougherra has to take care of Heart of Midlothian's robust forward, Nade, when the sides meet for a lunchtime appointment at Tynecastle.

The pair are old adversaries. This is the third country in which they will have squared up to each other, having inflicted a few bruises on each other in the French League, and then in the Coca-Cola Championship in England as they took opposite corners in the Sheffield derby, one for Wednesday and the other for United.

Both men came to Britain in 2006 and their careers have gone in opposite directions. While Bougherra has underlined his emergence as centre-back of real stature, earning two moves at a cost of £5million, Nade was shipped off to Hearts for just £500,000, where his attitude plunged so dramatically that Csaba Laszlo took one look at the rotund striker slothfully hanging about the club's Riccarton training complex last summer and was convinced that Nade was a fat student.

The eating habits of the former French under-21 striker did not impress his new manager in the early days of Laszlo's tenure but Nade has gradually won a regular place in the Hearts side. He will never be confused for a true athlete, but according to Bougherra those extra pounds disguise a genuine hunger to win.

“No, he's not fat - he's strong,” the Algeria defender said yesterday. “He has always looked like this. Maybe he could do with losing a few kilos, but it would not change his football style. He was like this when he was with Troyes and I was with Gueugnon and we played in the French first division. We drew there.

“We also met when we were in Sheffield. He was with United and I was with Wednesday. Then when I left to join Charlton Athletic, I faced him again. He is a very good lad, a tough player to play against. However, if I am honest, I would rather play against this type of striker than small, quick ones. I enjoy a physical battle.”

That strength and pace is what persuaded Walter Smith to pay £2.5million for Bougherra in August, just eight months after the 26-year-old had moved to Charlton from Sheffield Wednesday for a similar fee.

Bougherra returns to the side today after missing the last two games through injury, with Lee McCulloch deputising. He has already been warned about the fierce scrutiny that awaits at Tynecastle, where Rangers lost last season. Bougherra feels there is no margin for such errors this time, if they are to keep pace with Celtic, who are four points better off.

“Of course, we need to win every game now,” Bougherra said. “We have lost some points recently and had a bad month. Now we have to win every game. We have Celtic coming to Ibrox at the end of December and we want to beat them and get the gap down to one point. I am not saying Celtic are comfortable because they are four points ahead - but we need to win every game.”

Such a target would be deemed impossible this early in the campaign, but Bougherra fears that Celtic have been given a fresh injection of perspective in the title race with that painful Champions League defeat by Aalborg.

When asked if that made Rangers' task more difficult, Bougherra said: “Yes, it makes a big difference. Now Celtic can only concentrate on the Premier League title. Without the Champions League games, they have more time to rest and they will not be as distracted as when they concentrated on the Champions League.”

Smith believes that Tynecastle would present a fearsome test, in any backdrop, never mind one that sees Laszlo's side on a run of four wins for the first time since George Burley was at Hearts in 2005-06. The problem is the influence of Vladimir Romanov, the absentee Lithuanian owner.

“We lost at Tynecastle last season with one of our worst performances and then won the other game there with one of our best,” the Rangers manager said. “Hearts have good players, as a far as I'm concerned. Their inconsistency as a team has more to do with factors that are outside the football department.

“They are always a team that is capable of doing well and are never short of confidence, but that will be especially high after four wins. It is a big game for us.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk