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Morton manager Jim Duffy has warned his players to keep their focus on the charge for Championship promotion after being drawn with Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
Ton will take on Mark Warburton’s side at Ibrox in just under three weeks’ time after seeing of Falkirk at Cappielow on Saturday.
The Greenock side currently sit third in the table but face a testing spell on the road in matches at Ayr United, Queen of the South and Raith Rovers before they travel to Govan.
Duffy said: “It’s a terrific draw for the club, there’s no doubt about that. It’s one of the hardest draws we could have possibly got in a football sense, but nevertheless, it’s an exciting draw.
“That’s what we say to the players time and time again, that if you win you never know how the draw will go, and in terms of the profile it’s a fantastic occasion for the players to look forward to and terrific for the supporters to look forward to.
“For me as a manager, it’s one of those ones that gives us a lot to think about when the game arrives, but at this moment, we have a few weeks and too many games to play before that.
“We have to try and make sure we maintain our form leading up to it, if we can. We can’t guarantee it, but going into those type of matches in good form is something we’d like to be the case.”
Morton were unwittingly at the centre of another Scottish Cup draw mishap when they were briefly paired with Celtic before former Hibs boss Alan Stubbs, who helped conduct the draw, realised he had mistakenly got the number ‘6’ and ‘9’ mixed up.
Duffy’s side were matched with Celtic last year in a quarter-final redraw after the first draw was halted when their name burst out of the balls.
Duffy, speaking to the official Morton website, added: “It was similar to the last time when they pulled out Celtic against Dundee United and had to do it again and the next time it was ourselves who got Celtic.
“This time they pulled it out and got the nine and six mixed up, and it was kind of strange – but either way it was going to be Celtic or Rangers away and really tough.
“It’s one of those rarities. Who got Celtic and Rangers away from home in the same cup draw – that will be a pub quiz in a few years’ time.”
