Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister knows Betfred Cup success could be a major catalyst for the club to achieve greater things.
McAllister won its English equivalent in 2001 alongside Rangers boss Steven Gerrard during his first season with Liverpool and went on to lift the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in the same campaign.
The pair have made a positive start to life at Ibrox by progressing to the Europa League group stages and leading their team above Celtic in the early stages of the league.
But McAllister knows a trophy could take them to a different level.
Speaking ahead of the quarter-final tie with Ayr at Ibrox, McAllister said: “With the Betfred Cup, and certainly south of the border as well with the League Cup, it was maybe the furthest one down on the list of priorities for most managers.
“But I played in a treble-winning season and winning the League Cup was massive for us progressing in the other ones.
“If you can go ahead and win a cup early in the season, it doesn’t half lift the place.”
Both sides go into the game in form.
Ayr went back top of the Ladbrokes Championship on Saturday and won 3-0 at Dundee in the previous round. Rangers have scored nine goals in two matches at Ibrox – against Dundee and St Johnstone – either side of a European draw against Villarreal in Spain.
McAllister said: “It’s an opportunity to gather momentum. I know it’s a word that’s used a lot but when a clubs like Rangers gather a bit of momentum everybody is pushing and pulling in the same direction then anything can happen.
“Everybody goes along the line of ‘developing team spirit is a big thing’ but when you win games and score goals and perform like the last two games at Ibrox, that’s where team spirit comes from. People are bouncing into training.”
