Gavin Skelton backs his players to handle Ibrox heat

Queen of the South manager Gavin Skelton is delighted that his players are facing a high-profile week as it is a fitting reward for a terrific start to their season.

Gavin Skelton will see his side face off against Rangers at Ibrox tonight. Picture: Michael Gillen

The Doonhamers head to Ibrox tonight to face Rangers in a Betfred Cup quarter-final before taking on Hibs next weekend in a battle to keep hold of top spot in the Championship.

The Dumfries side made it seven wins in a row on Saturday when they defeated Raith Rovers 3-1 and Skelton reckons his players can handle the attention they are drawing to themselves.

Skelton, who has a full squad to choose from, said: “I could not have asked for any more from the players ahead of what is a big week for the club. They have been playing well and when you do that you deserve to play in big games. We now have two big games in a row but all our attention is on the first one against Rangers.

“We have a number of players with great experience and they never lost focus against Raith at the weekend because this game was coming up.

“Rangers may not have won for three games but they played well at the weekend against Ross County and that is warning enough for us. They will want to reach the last four and we have to play at the top of our game and hope that they are a few shades off theirs.

“Nothing should be held back as we have the chance to reach the semi-final of a major cup.”