Rangers have pulled a clever fast one by securing Nathan Patterson and Bongani Zungu for Cove Rangers at the very least, after the club confirmed an appeal against the Covid Crew’s 6-match ban.

The appeal means all five players are freed up for this weekend’s action, and while Rangers (touch wood) shouldn’t have too many problems dispatching Cove, with all due respect, nevertheless Steven Gerrard would rather not have to rely on Leon Balogun at RB even if the calibre of opponent isn’t the greatest.

This match is important – Rangers want to win the Scottish Cup and are clear favourites to, but complacency cannot be allowed and fans we’ve seen on our network are suggesting we don’t ‘need’ Patterson for this one, which just shows how arrogant and complacent some fans may have become.

You probably thought the starting XI v St Mirren last year was absolutely fine too.

No, we must always play the best players we have for as many matches as we can, and we completely agree with the club doing this so we have Patterson to face our namesake.

Rangers want to win the Scottish cup, and even though Leon Balogun would maybe be ok against a side of this modesty, he’s not Rangers’ best option there with Patterson’s availability, and the choice is a no brainer.

As is Zungu – no Ryan Jack for the foreseeable, and we’re going to need the South African to step up, with just Kamara and Davis our only two options for CM.

So yes, the club definitely used the rules wisely here.