Rangers host Queen of the South in the second leg of the Premiership play-off quarter-final on Sunday, live on BT Sport with a 3.30pm kick-off.
The Ibrox men hold a 2-1 lead from the first meeting at Palmerston last Saturday thanks to goals from Steven Smith and Dean Shiels - Derek Lyle netted for Queens - and manager Stuart McCall reckons a growing belief will help them through to the semi-final against Hibernian.
McCall said: “It was terrific to get a winning result last Saturday as we handled the disappointment of getting pegged back to 1-1.
"The way the players went about getting the win showed the desire, the belief and the confidence they have in each other. Despite a setback, they thought they could go and get a winner and they did just that.
“I sense the players have a belief in each other and when you have that you gain confidence. When you have confidence you go out and play better. We know this is only half-time but we will look forward to the second leg on Sunday.”
If the Doonhamers are to progress to the next stage of the play-offs, manager James Fowler’s squad will have to end a near 70-year wait for a win over 90 minutes at Ibrox.
The last time the Dumfries side achieved that was in 1948, although Queen of the South did triumph on penalties in a Challenge Cup tie after a 2-2 draw in 2012.
Fowler said: “We are still in the tie and will take confidence from how we played in the first game at Palmerston. The result and the goals that we lost were frustrating but it is a position that we can recover from.
“We matched Rangers in lots of areas so we can go to Ibrox with confidence. I am sure that if the first game had ended in a draw Stuart McCall would not have had too many complaints but he will be pleased that his side produced a winner.
“We created opportunities and if we do that again at Ibrox then we can score. The players showed they could handle the occasion and I am sure that they will handle it at Ibrox.
“We know that we need a result and we will go out and look to get one. Hopefully we can put on a performance and get the right result.”
Craig Stewart
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