'This is a special one' - Rangers desperate to claim first cup win after becoming the team to beat in SWPL

The conversion from part-time players juggling careers and degrees to full-time professionals was not entirely straightforward for Rangers as the club invested in its women’s side.

Hibs Women's manager, Dean Gibson, and Rangers manager, Malky Thomson, will go head-to-head for the Sky Sports SWPL League Cup at Tynecastle on Sunday.

Teething problems would have been anticipated given the differing physical demands placed on players unaccustomed to such intensity, but it is fair to say that the Ibrox side have flexed their muscle across recent seasons.

The Ibrox side are the reigning SWPL champions having knocked Glasgow City off their perch last season, a position the dominant force in the women’s game had enjoyed for the last 14 years. Crucial to their advancement has been as much about the culture created around the club.

“I'm desperate to see exactly where we are going to stand come Sunday,” said Thomson. “But this is a special one. It's played in a venue like this and what a great environment and pitch to come to. Especially the fact we've now gone further in our journey and added European experience. It adds a bit of hype and it will be exciting.

“The first season we were in and we were trying to attain a training level. We were getting a lot of injuries and a lot of girls breaking down because they weren't used to the full time environment, to myself, to the training regime and the methodologies.

“But now that we're three years into it we've got a fit strong squad and one in which everybody is desperate to play games.”

The next challenge from Thomson’s side is the adding further silverware to the cabinet; today’s Sky Sports Cup final is the first by this name but is a long standing tournament in the women’s calendar.

Interestingly, Hibs are the record holders with seven successes in the league cup. Rangers have yet to get their hands on it but will fancy themselves this afternoon. Of course, no such talk was forthcoming in the build-up to the meeting at Tynecastle on the part of the Ibrox side who straight-bat all such queries.

The reality is, though, that Rangers should – on the notion of financial resources – prevail comfortably against Hibs. The intrigue comes in whether or not Dean Gibson’s side can show a fortitude that will be as much about mental strength as it is about how they set up against a team who have become the side to beat.

“The dynamic changes all the time,” reflected Thomson. “When you're trying to win the league title, which we did, it was done in a flash. We'd won it and we'd moved on.

“Everybody wants the [league] trophy off us so it becomes a different mindset in a sense. We had to really be diligent and detailed in our planning about how we were then going to try to retain this one. It's making sure that every player is in a good head space, every player is confident, every player is relaxed.”

As interesting in how this afternoon will play out is the numbers the fixture will attract. It is difficult not to feel that the failure of the national team to land a place – that was well within grasp – at this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup has cost the country dearly, and not only financially. At a time when Scotland is firmly in the slipstream of the English women’s game exposure on such a stage would have been a necessary shot in the arm. Showcase events like this afternoon’s need to offer something.

“It has to be entertaining and thrilling, all those words attached to it,” accepted Thomson.