Rangers manager Steven Gerrard says it has been made ‘abundantly clear’ to his squad that they are expected to succeed in domestic cups this season [Rangers FC Twitter].
Gerrard and his players delivered the Premiership title last season, which was the main aim at the beginning of the campaign.
However, the 41-year-old is still yet to oversee a cup win during his time in the Ibrox hot seat.
Last season, he didn’t even come close, with the Gers knocked out in the League Cup quarter-finals by St Mirren and the Scottish Cup quarter-finals by St Johnstone.
He’s previously stated that the cup failings don’t ‘sit well’ with him [Daily Record] and in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, ahead of Friday night’s League Cup Last 16 clash against Dunfermline, his determination to put things right was obvious.
“We made it abundantly clear to the squad this season that the domestic cups are important and we want to go all the way in both,” he said [Rangers FC Twitter].
“You will see in my squad selection how serious we are taking the competition, we will be going full throttle.”
This ‘full throttle’ approach may well be bad news for fringe players looking for an opportunity to impress and some fans won’t be happy if there’s little to no rotation.
However, ultimately, if the approach leads to success, then all complaints will disappear.
The domestic cups have taken on even greater importance following the hugely disappointing Champions League qualifying exit and entering the League Cup at this stage means the Gers only need to win four matches to secure the trophy.
Here’s our Predicted XI for Friday night’s clash with the Pars.
