Defender Darren Dods has locked horns with both Kris Boyd and Henrik Larsson during his long career in the SPL.
The Dundee United defender insists there’s nothing to split the two forwards.
Dods is gearing up to face Rangers in tonight’s rearranged SPL game at Tannadice and knows keeping Boyd at bay will be his main task for the evening.
Boyd, who has been linked with big-money moves away from Rangers in January, is on course to beat former Celtic attacker Henrik Larsson’s record of 158 SPL goals and this has prompted debate about who is better.
Dods was a huge admirer of Larsson and believes he was a more rounded player but, in terms of simply scoring goals, believes they are on a par.
He said: “Kris Boyd is quality and is a player who has done well against us in the past.
“He’s not the only danger but he’s probably Rangers’ main threat when the ball comes into the box, so we need to keep a close eye on him.
“I played against him when he was with Killie and now at Rangers and he’s always been deadly when he gets a chance.
“Kris is on course to beat Henrik Larsson’s scoring record, which is a phenomenal achievement because he was a world-class player.
“It’s hard to compare them. Larsson did more out of the box and was a danger all across the park.
“You saw how good he was when he went to Barcelona and then Manchester United and his record was very impressive when you consider he spent a year out injured.
“But Boyd’s record speaks for itself, he’s an out-and-out scorer.
“You’ve got to be in the right place to get the goals. That’s what he does and he deserves all the credit for it.”
Rangers will not be relishing going to Tannadice after struggling against Craig Levein’s men so often in the past and Dods intends to make it another uncomfortable night for the champions. He said: “We’ve done well against Rangers and even though we were a goal down when the last match was abandoned we felt we had played well.
“We’d created chances and had a lot of possession. If we can do the same this time we’ll have a really good chance of winning.”
Rangers supporters are furious at having to pay to get in after the initial fixture was abandoned due to waterlogging and many have decided to boycott the game.
There is likely to be less than 1,500 travelling supporters and they will be heavily outnumbered.
Dods believes the crowd can play a part. He said: “Usually when you play the Old Firm they have at least half the crowd and they make a lot of noise. But it won’t be like that this time round and, hopefully, our crowd will be in good voice.
“It definitely helps and will be a small advantage for us.”
United manager Craig Levein appealed for even more supporters to snap up tickets at the last minute.
He said: “It’s not very often you will be able to play the Old Firm and outnumber their supporters by five or six to one.
“So, it will mean a lot to our guys to go out and have the vast majority of the people in the stadium right behind them.
“I’d urge every United supporter who can make it to come along and support the team.”
United are without Andy Webster, who is unavailable under the terms of his loan from Ibrox, while there are doubts about Morgaro Gomis and Prince Buaben.