Madjid Bougherra is close to Rangers recall: Algerian defender set for Cup clash

Rangers are set to welcome back influential defender Madjid Bougherra for the Scottish Cup quarter-final showdown with Dundee United at Ibrox on Sunday.

• Peter Houston’s in-form side return to Govan for the first time since the night Kris Boyd claimed the SPL scoring record from Celtic legend Henrik Larsson by scoring five times in a 7-1 rout.
• Bougherra had the last word on that incredible evening in December, grabbing the final goal before flying off for the Africa Cup of Nations.
• Now the powerful Algerian is expected to be passed fit for the Cup encounter after a fortnight on the sidelines nursing an injury.
• Teenager Danny Wilson deputised in the heart of Walter Smith’s defence for the recent SPL victories over St Mirren and Kilmarnock. But Bougherra is understood to be shaking off the effects of a minor hamstring problem that hindered him in the Old Firm derby.
• Naturally, Rangers want the 27-year-old centre-half restored to full fitness for the United game – and also the Co-operative Insurance Cup Final against St Mirren the following Sunday.
• Last March, Bougherra missed out on the League Cup Final – which Rangers lost to Celtic – because of injury.
• American international Maurice Edu, meanwhile, has insisted he bears no grudge with United defender Darren Dods for the tackle last May that put him out of the game for seven months.
• Dods, who is set to return to Houston’s starting line-up in the absence of Andy Webster, who is not permitted to play against his employers under the terms of his loan move, caught Edu in a challenge on the day Rangers won the title at Tannadice, with the Ibrox star suffering knee-ligament damage.
• ‘There are mixed emotions about that afternoon last year,’ Edu told Rangers’ website. ‘It was a good day and also bad day for me, but it is all behind me now.
• ‘This is a new season, a different competition, and I’m not looking back because it has been a hard slog to get fit again. ‘I’ll put what happened against United to the back of my mind and, when the game kicks off this weekend, I won’t be thinking about it. I have not heard anything from their player (Dods) and I don’t think he’s spoken to anyone about the tackle he made.
• ‘But there is no point in bearing grudges and I’m just keen to move on. If you sit and mope, it weighs on your mind.
• ‘Challenges are part of the game. I accept that. Nobody wants to get injured and I am sure there was no intention to hurt me. ‘I won’t be shying away from any tackles against United because of the last time. I will just treat it like any other game.’
• The semi-final draw will be made at Hampden on Monday morning.