Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin insists he does not fear Rangers after the Dons were paired with the Ibrox club in the semi-finals of the Premier Sports Cup.
The Dons will face the Light Blues at Hampden on the weekend of January 14 and 15 for a place in the final and Goodwin is relishing the prospect of seeing his side take on the Gers at the National Stadium.
He said: “We’ve drawn Rangers, it’s not a problem; we don’t fear them.
“We’ll give them the same respect we give every level of opposition but we’ll go there believing we can win the game.
“It’s a tough draw, there’s no doubt about it, but we’ll go there full of optimism, full of hope and give it our all.
“I won this trophy before back in 2013 with St Mirren. We came here in the quarter-final, had to beat Celtic in the semi-final then Hearts in the final.
“You know when you get to the latter stages of the competition you are going to be drawn against the bigger teams in the league.”
Lessons to be learned from quarter-final
The Dons booked their place in the last four of the competition with a 4-1 win against Championship leaders Partick Thistle at Pittodrie on Wednesday.
Having watched his side race into a 3-0 half-time lead Goodwin was disappointed with aspects of the second half display but was delighted with the overall result against Ian McCall’s side.
The Aberdeen manager said: “We were delighted with the opening 45 minutes. Going in 3-0 ahead it could have been more. The second half got a wee bit nervy at 3-1 as Partick had nothing to lose and we probably didn’t cope well enough.
“The final goal of the night was a wonder goal from Ryan Duncan and it helped settle everyone.
“Partick are top of the Championship and we’ve beaten them 4-1. I watched the tail end of Rangers against Dundee and they only won 1-0. We should put things in perspective.
“There’s lot to learn and we need to manage the game better but I’ve said previously this is a new group and they are learning.
“The more often we get to the latter stages of these competitions the better we’ll be able to handle it.
“Let’s not dwell too long on what happened in the second 45, we’re going to Hampden and that was the objective before a ball was kicked in this competition.”
Hampden learning experience will be vital
The Dons boss knows Hampden will be new territory for the majority of his squad.
But he believes the experience gained of reaching the latter stages of cup competition will stand his players and the club in good stead.
He said: “It’s a great achievement for this new group of players and a lot of them will never have experienced playing in a semi-final at a national stadium in any of the countries they have been at previously.
“That’s what we sold to them in the summer. Come to Aberdeen, it’s a big club with lots of ambition and expectation which goes with it. The boys have handled it up to now.
“We’re not going to be satisfied with just getting to the semi-final. We want to get to the final and give ourselves a chance of winning silverware as it has been too long for this club.”
Goodwin added: “I’m just delighted we’ve given the supporters that particular day to look forward to in January.
“But for us we have to now focus on a really important game on Saturday against a Motherwell side which we know is a tough nut to crack.”
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