Steven Davis on Rangers overhead kick and why Celtic cup tie came at the right time

Age shows no sign of catching up with Steven Davis after the midfielder led Rangers into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a stunning opener in the 2-0 win over Celtic.

Steve Davis beats Celtic's Scott Bain with an acrobatic effort to open the scoring for Rangers (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The 36-year-old turned back the clock to score his first Old Firm goal in 10 years, reacting superbly to send an overhead kick past Scott Bain after Joe Aribo's shot deflected into his path, before a Jonjoe Kenny own goal put the seal on the Rangers victory.

Davis' performance was described by Ally McCoist as "out of this world" and the Northern Irishman was delighted to make a valuable contribution in a big match – his 54th appearance of the season for club and country.

"I'm loving it. To be playing at this age, at this stage of my career, playing for the club that I love and for the chance to challenge for trophies, it's a great feeling and I'm thoroughly enjoying it at the minute," he said.

"Whenever you get to this age it's just important to keep playing and luckily I've played a good number of games this season. My body feels good and long may that continue."

On his goal, which arrived in the 10th minute, he added: "I'm not quite sure what I was doing in the box at that point!

"I don't tend to get that high too often these days but obviously it sat up nicely, I had a go. I wasn't sure at the time if I was offside but delighted to take the lead with that goal."

Davis admitted that Rangers had taken their foot off the pedal in recent weeks after clinching the league title but felt the desire to lift the Scottish Cup had brought the best of the players again.

"It was a really big game for us and we knew how importance it was. I think it was a good game for us at this time as well. We'd maybe came off it a bit after we got the championship and this was a really important game and we showed how much it meant to us," he told Premier Sports.

"Both teams had chances. In the second half we probably could have taken better care of the ball at times, but overall I think we deserved the win and we're delighted to get through to the next round in an important competition for us.

"At a club like Rangers questions are always asked of you. Do you still have that desire? We certainly want the league championship to be the first of many for us. This is another step in the right direction but there's a lot of work to go before we can try and get our hands on the trophy. We just look forward to the next round now."

Match verdict: Rangers expose Celtic's familiar flaws to close in on Scottish Cup glory

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