Rangers boss Mark Warburton has backed Martyn Waghorn to get better and better after the striker became the first man in Britain to hit 25 goals this season.
The former Sunderland, Leicester and Wigan hitman had a hat-trick in Gers’ 5-1 win over Cowdenbeath as the Light Blues booked their place in the last 16 of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
It took the 25-year-old past Peterhead’s Rory McAllister to become the UK’s top scorer in all competitions this term.
However, manager Warburton reckons the Ibrox faithful have yet to see the best of their ace marksman.
“The more often he plays, the greater his belief in his ability and he’ll get better and better,” he said.
“Martyn’s target was to play football and, as basic as it may sound, to play week in and out. He is a victim of his own success at 19 he got his £3 million move to Leicester and spent time on the bench in the Premier League, but he needed to play.
“He’s doing that now, developing nicely, and there’s a lot more to come from Martyn Waghorn.
“He did very well today. He’s dealing with the expectation here. He came here as a striker to a club like Rangers and the crowd expect, quite rightly, that he delivers and he’s doing that.”
Gers grabbed the lead after 19 minutes when Lee Wallace was picked out by Kenny Miller before slotting through Cowdenbeath keeper Jamie Sneddon’s legs.
Barry McKay cut in from the right to sweep home a stunning second on 33 minutes.
There was a setback for the hosts when Dean Brett clipped an exquisite free-kick past Wes Foderingham off the underside of the bar.
But Rangers moved clear again when Waghorn bullied his way into shooting territory before firing over Sneddon.
He then wrapped up his second Rangers hat-trick since moving north in the summer with two penalties after team-mate James Tavernier was twice tripped in the box.
Former Rangers favourite Brian Laudrup will conduct today’s fifth round draw at Hampden, but Warburton insists he is not bothered who the Dane picks out.
“We have no preference about who we play next,” said the Englishman. “It was all about being in the next round, delivering a decent performance, and whoever draws Rangers in the next round will know they face a good game.”