Queen of the South have a money-spinning tie with Rangers at Ibrox next month after a dramatic conclusion to their Premier Sports Cup group.
The Doonhamers had an anxious 24-hour wait to see if they would progress as one of the best three runner-ups after beating Elgin City 2-0.
They needed Aberdeen to beat Raith Rovers on Sunday and they did, 3-0 – sealing the South’s place in the last 16.
Queens boss Wullie Gibson said: “When we were in the hotel on Friday night, I got an email with all the possible scenarios and what we needed from each group and it was a long shot but it has worked out for us.”
The tie will take place on either Tuesday, August 30, or Wednesday, August 31, with the game likely to be televised but yet to be confirmed.
Queens ended the group stage on eight points following the 2-0 win on Saturday with Kieran McKechnie and Ruari Paton scoring the goals.
Gibson said: “I was disappointed in the first half – the boys know that.
“I just felt it was very flat. I felt we were slightly off it in the first half.
“We spoke at half time about moving the ball quicker and when we came out the pitch had been watered and I think that benefited us. We moved the ball about more sharply and got into a two goal lead quickly.
“If I’m being overly critical we could’ve ran out four or five winners in the end but it was a good day at the office.”
The Palmerston gaffer does have an injury sweat on with his captain Josh Todd who left the pitch after half an hour.
He said: “Josh is in a moonboot at the moment and feels he’s broken his toe but hopefully it’s just impact but we won’t know for a few days. We’ve had a bit of bad luck with injuries pre-season and hopefully that’s not another one as Toddy’s a big player for us.”
With the league campaign getting under way this Saturday the manager made a few changes to his squad, including naming himself in the team for the first time.
He explained: “I’m a good talker and organiser, that’s one thing we’ve maybe not had with it being such a young side.
“I touched on needing more experience when we were recruiting but you don’t always get age with experience.
“Myself and Stuart Morrison have both been out injured although I’ve been available the last couple of games. I wanted to pick the right time to come in because I just feel we had a lot of hard work to do preparing for the league.
“The important stuff is being ready for next week so I had taken a wee bit of a back seat and I felt the Elgin game was the perfect opportunity to come in.
“That’s why we rested Paul McKay.
