Football: Lowndes plans his Rangers revenge

THE ST JOHNSTONE striker Nathan Lowndes is looking forward to gaining his revenge against Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final tomorrow - after dismissing his side's recent 7-0 drubbing as "a fluke".

The former Watford man has created a huge impression since arriving at McDiarmid Park - he scored twice against Hibernian in the quarter-finals. All was going well for Lowndes and his team-mates until a fortnight ago, when Rangers came calling in the Premier League.

Paul Kane's dismissal opened the floodgates and cast widespread doubt about Saints' ability to mix it with the top teams - but the Perth club bounced right back by chalking up victories against Celtic and then Aberdeen last week.

"The Rangers result was a fluke, we looked at the tape after the game and we played quite well in patches," Lowndes said. "A few home truths came out of the meeting as we analysed the match.

"We got any disappointment out of our system right away by beating Celtic, and that gave everyone a huge lift. Every player believes we can get a result against Rangers. We are not just going to Celtic Park for a day out. We know we have to be positive and confident."