Teams won’t fear Rangers in Scottish Cup draw, says Warburton
Rangers manager Mark Warburton says he and his players will keep their feet on the ground after booking their place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals for the second time in three years with a 4-0 demolition of Dundee. The Championship leaders, who are 14 points ahead of Hibernian in their […]

Rangers manager Mark Warburton says he and his players will keep their feet on the ground after booking their place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals for the second time in three years with a 4-0 demolition of Dundee.

The Championship leaders, who are 14 points ahead of Hibernian in their bid to gain promotion back to the Premiership, eased to victory over their top-flight opponents whose eight-match unbeaten run came crashing to an end.

The emphatic result sets up a potential Old Firm semi-final with rivals Celtic, who take on Championship side Morton at Parkhead on Sunday, but Warburton doesn’t think teams will be worried about being drawn against his side in Sunday’s draw despite the manner of their victory.

“I don’t think anyone fears anyone,” Warburton said.

“If you’re in the semi-final of a trophy, who are you going to fear?

“Our job, whoever we face, is to do well. Don’t forget, it’s only seven and a half months since this team came together. All credit to them for the way they have applied themselves and they deserved (Saturday’s) result.

“They are reaping the rewards for all the hard work they have put in so far since the first day of pre-season.

“But they are a young side and teams in the semi-finals won’t fear anyone I’m sure.

“There’s no point us getting too excited too early. I’m delighted for them but they have won nothing yet and there is a lot of work to do.”

Dundee had held Scottish champions Celtic to a goalless draw last Wednesday but Harry Forrester breached their defenses after just 13 seconds followed by second-half goals from Jason Holt, Andy Halliday and Lee Wallace.

“It was a really pleasing performance,” Warburton admitted.

“It was a big challenge and we knew the danger they posed, but from the outset we wanted to start fast and maintain our tempo and our intensity and obviously we got the early goal which was tremendous.

“I thought the first 35 minutes we played super stuff and the challenge at half-time was to take that into the second period and I thought we did that.

“A lot has been made of our attacking play but all credit to the defenders as that is seven clean sheets in nine now.

“They are resolute, they are determined, they are solid and they are working more together so credit to them but I thought overall it was a great team performance.”

Rangers will be joined in the draw by Dundee United who, despite being reduced to ten men, twice came from behind to claim a dramatic 3-2 win at Ross County.

United manager Mixu Paatelainen hopes his players can take that fighting spirit into their relegation battle.

“The fighting spirit when we were down to 10 men was excellent,” Paatelainen, whose side are eight points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership, said.

“All credit to the boys – the shift they put in was unbelievable.

“We’re a match for any team when we play well. Today we did. We have a long way to go and we’re nowhere near safety now. We need to get our heads down and keep working hard.

“Hopefully, by hard work, I believe we can do it.”

Hibernian take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle in Sunday’s other quarter-final.