Talk of treble is dismissed by McCulloch

McCulloch insists Rangers are too far away from a clean sweep to make it their aim following Sunday's dramatic 1-0 Co-operative Insurance Cup final victory over St Mirren which they finished with nine men.

Walter Smith faces a dearth of midfielders for tomorrow's Active Nation Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against Dundee United with McCulloch and Kevin Thomson – his red card for serious foul play ruled him out of tomorrow's tie – both suspended and Steven Davis recovering from a stomach bug.

So the former Motherwell player ruled out looking too far ahead despite the treble being in the sights of Rangers fans.

"It's too far away to say that," McCulloch said. "We've got Dundee United at Tannadice on Wednesday night, it's one of the hardest places to go in the league and they will be right up for it, they'll fancy their chances. It would be silly to start talking about trebles.

"For the boys it would be the best thing to happen to any of them, including myself, it would be the greatest achievement ever, but we are miles away from it."

While Rangers face United, Celtic have the chance to cut the gap at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League to seven points when they head to St Mirren Park.

And, although Rangers will have two games in hand, McCulloch knows that a fixture backlog will test their endurance in the final straight of the season.

The 32-year-old said. "We've got a lot of games coming up. Even in the league, it is far from over.

"There are two games a week between now and the end of the season so we need to pray we don't get an injury or suspension and keep everyone fit."