MARTYN WAGHORN is set to start for Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final against Hibernian following his successful comeback after ten weeks out with a knee injury.
The club's top goalscorer showed up well in his hour-long performance in the 2-2 draw at St Mirren and as long as he comes through a closed doors game with a Tottenham Hotspur side on May 11, then he will be in Mark Warburton's eleven at Hampden.
Waghorn's season appeared to be over when he was crocked during a Scottish Cup tie at Kilmarnock in February, and even the Rangers manager seemed to have given up on the former Wigan player being fit enough to be available for the meeting with Hibs on May 21.
However, a delighted Warburton said: "It is all credit to him and the physios for the work that has been done. Martyn has come back, is fit, hungry, sharp and you can see that he want to play. We are delighted to get an hour out of him, he will play 75 minutes in the next game and will be ready for the final.
“He has a chance of starting. He has worked hard and looked really fit. He looked as if he hadn’t been away. There was no rustiness to speak of on a difficult surface and I thought he was very good.
“So as I said he will play 75 minutes in the next game. He has made a good case for selection."
Warburton was happy with his side's second-half display in their draw in Paisley and he now has 19 days of rest and training before he attempts to lead the club to a Scottish Cup success which would arguably trump all others.
"They have four days off, which is our decision, I think any more than that then it is easy to step into holiday mode, that’s not being disrespectful to the players, it’s just natural to go into holiday mode," he said.
“We will have this time off, they will come back and we will work a normal week, then travel south and play on the Wednesday.
"Then we will work, take some days off, and will be in good shape for the final. I am happy with what we have planned.”
The day began in usual fashion in that Warburton was linked with an English club; Everton on this occasion.
He asked: "Who is it this time? I can’t stop that. The only time you get linked to big clubs is when the players are doing well. It’s as simple as that.
"If you lose 12 on the spin you won’t be linked with any jobs. Don’t forget they won the league convincingly, they won the Petrofac and beat Celtic in the semi-final and have reached a domestic final. It’s all credit to the players. It will be Barcelona and Real Madrid next!”
Alex Rae, the St Mirren manager, has cause for some confidence looking ahead to next season given the way his players dug in and scored an injury-time equaliser.
"It was a difficult game for us because of the way Rangers play," he said. "It is very demanding and that showed in their second goal. We were treading water at that time but the response was brilliant and it was a great finale for us.
“We are letting 13 players go, so the real hard work starts now in trying to identify players who are going to enhance the squad. We’ll be trying to bring in nine or ten, so we have to get work done sooner rather than later.”
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