It’s not a massive exaggeration to say that our recent form at Hampden is something of a shambles, defeats to Motherwell (twice), Celtic and Hibernian do not make for pleasant reading, not just the results, but the manner in which we were beaten.
Our last visit, with a makeshift management team, following the departure of Steven Gerrard and his staff, was nothing short of a disgrace and you’ll not find many Rangers fans who have seen us produce worse at the national stadium.
The obstacle facing us this time is a team that hasn’t lost a domestic game since the middle of September and are on track for the treble, there should be no greater motivation for Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his team if the prospect of lifting the Scottish Cup isn’t enough in it’s own right.
You would like to think that the way our league campaign has went will spur the Rangers players onto a greater intensity than we have seen in recent derbies, as will our last two defeats against them, when you consider that it is more than a decade since we lifted a domestic cup then we have more than a few wrongs to put right.
This Rangers squad has historically performed better when it has a run of games against decent opposition, the flip side of this is that Celtic have had a full week to rest and prepare, you can put your mortgage on them coming out of the traps at 100 mph.
The players owe us and themselves after the last few months, if they want to create a legacy and, for some of them, leave on a high note, there is no other option than a Rangers win.