Stirling Albion boss Darren Young reckons his stars showed courage in a Scottish Cup adventure that took them into a fiery Ibrox cauldron.
Now the Binos gaffer hopes his players’ true-grit experience against the Premiership champions can help them put the frighteners on Annan tomorrow.
Young’s League Two side were not disgraced despite a 4-0 fourth-round defeat in front of 37,900 fans last weekend.
Now league rivals Annan will get their chance to host Rangers in the last 16 after a thrilling 4-3 extra-time win over Clydebank.
And Young has warned his players Peter Murphy’s men will be fired up after their cup exploits - with a 10-game unbeaten league run that’s propelled them into third place.
Athletic are 10 points clear of the next five teams – including Stirling – who are separated by just two points in what looks like a battle for the final play-off place.
Young said: “It was a great experience for the boys at Ibrox and they did really well.
“We had a couple of wee half chances at 0-0 and a couple of chances at the end.
“They never gave up and you can’t ask for any more than that.
“For me, it is a bit different trying to get your instructions across when there are 38,000 fans there so they probably didn’t hear me half the time!
“It will be a hard game on Saturday because Annan are one of the form teams in the league and had a great comeback in the cup. The league doesn’t lie – they are flying this season.”
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He added: “It’s really tightened up between fourth and ninth so it’s important we try and go on a wee run.
“We might have someone in before Saturday because we have lost a few players this month and only brought in Mason Hancock and Akeel Francis so far.”
Defender Paul McLean is still out and midfielder Marc Laird is struggling though striker Dale Carrick could come into contention for a start.
