Dundee’s Gary Harkins insists Rangers “new club” claim was “just a wee joke”

Dundee midfielder Gary Harkins has insisted he was only joking when he called Rangers “just a new club.”

Harkins and his teammates face Dumbarton at Dens Park tomorrow in a William Hill Scottish Cup replay, with the prize for the winners being a trip to Ibrox to take on the Light Blues in the quarter-finals.

Dipping his toe into extremely dangerous waters, the Dark Blues player claimed after his side’s 0-0 draw in the league at Kilmarnock on Saturday that it would be a novelty to be going to play the Glasgow giants.

Harkins said: “They’re just a new club.

“I’ve not played them before, so I’m looking forward to that.

“It should be good.

“It will be a tough game against Dumbarton, they made it hard for us down there and it wasn’t the best of days, but there is a chance to go to Ibrox for a quarter-final so we will be right up for it.”

However, Harkins has subsequently claimed, in a message on his Twitter account, that he was just having a laugh.

He posted that it was: “Just a wee joke took too far.”