Tony Docherty insists Dundee will have no fear at Rangers on Saturday as he backs his players to “rise to the occasion” in their Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.
A place at Hampden in the final four is at stake. However, the Dark Blues will need to grab a first win at Ibrox in over two decades.
Claudio Caniggia scored that day in 2001 while it has been seven years since any victory over the Gers.
That includes a League Cup quarter-final clash at the same venue two years ago that saw Gary Bowyer’s Dee narrowly beaten 1-0.
This will be the first Rangers home match of the season to be played at Ibrox after summer stadium work over-ran and Hampden was required to host the Gers.
And Docherty is relishing that challenge.
“It should be brilliant,” the Dundee boss said.
“We have sold a lot of our tickets and I think we will also sell out.
“There is a real buzz about us going down there as well.
“It will be a great occasion and we will train with that adrenaline, we are looking forward to it.
“My players have shown they can more than handle these types of occasions.
“I have always said the bigger the occasion the bigger the performance.
“Hopefully, that will be the case and the players will rise to the occasion.
“We are preparing for it as best we can, with that real excitement.
“This time last season we didn’t have this and so this is progress in terms of where the club is and the players are.
“We are looking forward to trying to progress.”
‘I hated this time last year’
Docherty admits he “hated” being knocked out of this competition at the group stage last season.
And watching on as other sides battled out the knockout rounds.
This time the Dark Blues made sure of their progression by scoring an impressive 24 goals in just five matches, scoring six twice and seven once.
“This time last season we weren’t involved and I hated this time last year,” Docherty added.
“Now, when you look at our stats leading to this game, in terms of the goals we have scored and the number of games we have won, we are going into this tie really looking forward to it.
“We have earned the right to be there.
“There is that real buzz and excitement of going into a big fixture.”
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