A WILLIAM Hill Scottish Cup fifth-round replay is an occasion worthy of the spotlight in itself but there will be countless pairs of eyes and ears following Rangers’ progress against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Tuesday night, with people wondering just what the outcome may signify for the bigger picture.
There has been an assumption for some time now that the Ibrox club will be playing top-tier football next season– and that can often be a risky business as last year ably demonstrated – meaning any time Rangers take on Premiership opposition their performance and the result is analysed for deeper meaning. How big is the gulf? Are they ready for the step up? Will they need to strengthen further? And what ever happened to that transfer war-chest?
It is not only those peering in from the outside who are keen to see how Rangers fare as they go about trying to beat top-level division for the first time in six attempts. Reaching the quarter-finals remains the primary objective but manager Mark Warburton will also use the contest as a chance to again measure up his men with a nod to the long-term future.
“We learned a lot [from the first Kilmarnock tie] in terms of the players’ response and their belief going into a game of that nature,” he said. “They were very confident and had a lot of belief afterwards about how they had played. Defensively we were sound and they relished the fact we kept another clean sheet. That’s good for the back unit.
“I’ll be amazed if people think we can’t deal with a higher challenge. From the top of the Championship to the Premiership I don’t see this massive gulf. That’s not a lack of respect. I just don’t see it.
“Kilmarnock showed a physicality and had very good players, but there are very good players in the top Championship teams as well, and I include Falkirk in that. You look at Hibs against Hearts last weekend and Hibs did really well. The gap between the two leagues is narrowing. Now it may be that over the course of a season you need a depth of squad to deal with it as every week it is a tougher game. But the gulf isn’t huge.”
Representatives from Tottenham Hotspur were at the Rangers training ground last week as they continue to monitor the progress of loanee Dominic Ball.
Warburton remains grateful for having the player at his disposal and revealed his future transfer plans would include bringing in similar types again on loan.
“Young Dom Ball is 20 years old, a centre-half, and he did really well in midfield for us [against Kilmarnock],” he said. “So it’s not necessarily always about going out and spending serious money all the time. It’s about whether you can get the right young talent which is why the loan market might be important for us.
“We need to combine that with shrewd recruitment. If we do that we won’t be far away. We get on really well with Spurs and they were back up again this week.
“They are a magnificent club for monitoring their young players and I have huge respect for the job that is being done there by John McDermott [Spurs’ head of coaching and player development]. So we’ll have good dialogue and we’ll see where we are at the end of the season.
“First of all they are players of the parent club and you should never abuse that fact. The clubs lend them to you with a view to developing them. If it works well and suits all parties then you could try to make a loan deal a permanent move. But every individual case is different.”
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