James Penrice has told his new Rangers team-mates to expect 10 times the Hampden celebrations if they get their hands on the Premier Sports Cup next month. The Ibrox full-back and the rest of Derek McInnes' squad lapped up their semi-final win over Aberdeen on Saturday - courtesy of Ryan Naderi's late winner - with the supporters. It set up a showdown with Hibs on December 13 when McInnes will attempt to secure his first piece of silverware as Rangers gaffer.
Boyhood Fan Urges Focus on Final
Penrice is a boyhood fan so he knows how important it would be for the club to lift the cup. He wants his Ibrox pals to enjoy the weekend triumph but urged them to now go full-pelt in preparation for the final - so they can sample an even bigger party by beating the Hibees.
Penrice said: "It's special. It's special seeing boys that haven't seen those kind of scenes before, or haven't even seen Rangers at Hampden. That can only help. And it will be 10 times that if we were to come back here and win it in six weeks.
"So that's the motivation for the boys. To relive that again, 10 times that. That's what we'll be trying to put into the group but Saturday can only help us. It was big for a lot of the boys because it was their first time being at Hampden. It's massive that they experience that and it will make them want it more.
Squad Depth and Return of Key Players
"When we come back here in six weeks, everyone should be pushing to try and get in the starting at 11 or pushing to get on the bench. We've got a couple of boys coming back from injury as well. The squad's looking really strong and I think it's moving in a good direction.
"Look at the boys we were missing. That will just push everyone on. And that's what you need at a club like Rangers. You need two or three players who are good enough in each position fighting for a jersey. We've got Lawrence Shankland, Cammy Devlin, so many boys coming back. That all just spur the team on a wee bit more. We're all wanting to win and to play. That's the main thing."
Loan Move Justified by Cup Final
Penrice didn't need much convincing to join Rangers on loan from AEK Athens in the summer. But the full-back - who played in midfield against the Dons and looks certain to join the Ibrox club on a permanent £800,000 deal next summer - says reaching a final justifies his decision to return to Scotland. And just like their semi-final clash, Penrice insists they won't take anything for granted against Hibs on December 13.
He said: "Look, my move here was never in doubt. Never. It was the only place I wanted to go in the summer. And I pushed for it a hell of a lot. This is why I wanted to come here, to play for a massive club in games like a cup final. It definitely only backs up my decision.
"It didn't come into our heads about being favourites on Saturday, we didn't think about it. We just focused on the game plan. At the end of the day, these are one-off games. You see so many times when it goes the opposite way and the favourites don't win."
Resilience Pays Off Against Aberdeen
Rangers weren't at their best against the Dons but got the job done thanks to Naderi's late tap-in. They were the better side at Hampden and Penrice believes they were rewarded in the end for their resilience and perseverance.
He said: "We'd love to knock the ball about and score six or seven goals but sometimes it doesn't happen. Teams sit lower and make it hard for us. At Rangers, that's going to happen. The boys ran themselves into the ground and big Ryan got his striker's goal, which is a massive positive.
"I could sense it was coming for us on Saturday. We were creating chances and we managed to take one. When you're on the pitch and you play for Rangers, you should keep going until the end of the game. You've seen that a couple of times with us. The resilience to keep going to the end, keep pushing. I think we got our reward on Saturday."
Penrice had a huge hand in Naderi's winner as the Czech striker diverted his ball across goal into the net. It looked like a skewed shot rather than a cross from the 27-year-old who joked: "No, it was obviously a cross! Ryan's got that instinctive movement and he knows where the ball's going to be. I'll call it a shot and a cross!"
