Stirling Albion warmed up for their Scottish Cup tie against Rangers with a six-goal thriller in League Two.
The Binos are travelling to Ibrox for a Fourth Round match next week and it’ll be a chance for Gio van Bronckhorst to have a look at new signing James Sands, as well as some fringe and Academy players.
The visitors will be determined to put up a fight, though, despite their lower-league status.
When previous manager Kevin Rutkiewicz left his position last month, Albion had lost six games in a row in the fourth tier.
However, they’ve showed some signs of improvement since the appointment of former Aberdeen player Darren Young and they were unlucky not to take all three points from a trip to Stranraer on Saturday afternoon.
Albion warm up for Rangers tie with thriller
Young’s side took the lead through Jack Leitch in the 23rd minute but found themselves behind by the hour mark courtesy of goals from Tommy Muir and Darryl Duffy.
They showed good mental strength to rally and retake the lead by the 79th minute following a strike from Kieran Moore and a close-range header from Adam Cummins.
However, they were to be denied victory deep into stoppage time after Stranraer’s Scott Robertson was brought down in the box.
Former Rangers youth player Matty Yates, who had earlier come on as a substitute for the hosts, kept cool and slotted home the penalty to earn his side a point.
The draw leaves The Binos sixth in League Two and it’s clear that they have a few defensive issues to sort out ahead of their trip to Ibrox, otherwise Rangers’ forwards could have a ball.
Meanwhile, a Rangers-linked attacker is reportedly now pushing to leave his current club this month.
