Former Rangers star sends warning to teammates ahead of Ibrox clash

Former Rangers star Graham Dorrans will make his return to Ibrox this week when the Gers host Dunfermline in the Premier Sports Cup – and the Pars veteran admits his side have to buck up their ideas after a thrashing by Partick Thistle at the weekend.

Dorrans joined Dunfermline over the summer after returning to Scotland over the summer and will return to Ibrox for the first time since leaving Rangers.

Despite the Gers’ poor start to the season, Dorrans knows Dunfermline are in for a tough night at Ibrox but warned his teammates they need to be much better than they were against the Jags or they could face a long night in Govan.

“They are the league champions and we know how difficult a game that is going to be but we will go again on Monday and work on a game plan moving into that game,” Dorrans said.

“It will be difficult but every game brings that bit of pressure anyway. They will be favourites to win the game but if we go out and perform like on Saturday it could be a long day.

“Most of the boys have been there and played there [Ibrox], so I won’t need to emphasise what to expect to any of the boys.

“They have all played in Scotland for a long time have played in hard games. We all know what it’s like to play in big games against big clubs, so we will need a game-plan.”

While many of the Dunfermline stars have played at Ibrox before, eight members of the Pars squad haven’t and Dorrans insists nobody is going to the iconic Glasgow ground just to soak up the experience.

“Nobody in the dressing room wants to do that,” Dorrans added.

“We are footballers, we are all professionals and we want to win. We are under no illusions as to how hard it is going to be. We are all footballers, we have all played in hard games, we have played in big games against big clubs so we will have to go into it with a game plan.”