Rangers state how important clash with Livingston is

Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister has underlined the importance of the Premier Sports Cup to the Ibrox club as they attempt to win the trophy for the first time in 11 years.

Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister has stressed the importance of the domestic cup competitions to the Ibrox club this season. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The domestic cup competitions have been a consistent source of frustration and failure for Rangers in recent years with Steven Gerrard unable to buck that trend since his appointment as manager in 2018.

Gerrard has been unsuccessful in all six of his tilts at the League and Scottish Cups so far and is bidding to avoid what would be a fourth consecutive quarter-final exit across those two tournaments when Rangers face Livingston at Ibrox in their last eight tie on Wednesday night.

“It’s massive,” admitted McAllister. “ I’ve really got to emphasise the point that this is a really big game for us against Livi, with the incentive of getting to Hampden and obviously getting back there for a cup final.

“It’s an early end to a cup competition with a December final. It’s such a big game for us and we’ve been really diligent in our preparations for this one.

“People have this observation that it (the League Cup) might be the least of your priorities but it’s not the case.

“We want to continue the way this club has been in the past with winning things down the years. It would be nice (to win it) but first and foremost we’ve got to win this and get to Hampden for the semi.”

Rangers have experienced a disjointed start to the campaign, struggling to regain the form which underpinned their comprehensive title win last season, but still find themselves at the top of the Premiership.

“If you’d said at the start of the season we’d be sitting in this position where we are today, we’d probably have taken it,” added McAllister.

“But us being where we are and the standards we set – I know the players would agree with me as well - we feel we should have a few more points.

“But it can’t be that bad. We’re top of the league and we’ve got the chance to get to a semi-final. So there’s loads to play for and I want to again emphasise how important this game is.”

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