Former Rangers youngster Andy Murdoch can’t wait to take on his old side with Morton in the Scottish Cup, and he thinks the draw can help the Cappielow side continue their stunning league form.

Murdoch will return to Ibrox as a player in the Fifth Round tie for the first time since leaving permanently last summer, and he is relishing the opportunity to play at the venue again.

And with no one in the squad wanting to miss the occasion, he hopes the prospect of the glamour tie can keep everyone at Morton sharp over the next few weeks.

“I’m looking forward to it, but we’ve got some important games before then so we need to focus on them before we can allow ourselves to think about Rangers,” Murdoch said. “When that comes, we’ll deal with it then.

“I’ll just be treating it as a normal game. If you get too caught up in the occasion and think too much about it then you won’t perform to your best. I’m just really looking forward to it to be honest.

“It’s a cup game, so they usually have a different atmosphere and hopefully that’s the case when we play them and we can thrive off it.

“People will be wanting to stake a claim for that game, so it might even help us over the next few weeks in the league.”

Murdoch felt that he had to get out of Ibrox at the end of last season after loan spells at Cowdenbeath and Queen of the South gave him a taste for regular first-team football.

Knowing that he wasn’t in manager Mark Warburton’s plans, the 21-year-old chose to join Morton rather than stagnate in the Rangers development squad.

“I did pre-season with them after being out on loan and getting games,” he said.

“It happens in football that sometimes people don’t fancy you for whatever reason and you just have to move on from that.

“I could have stayed if I wanted to, but I think the right decision was to leave because I had to get games and I just felt like I was being held back.

“I didn’t want to just sit about for ages and stall my development, so I have no regrets about joining Morton at all.

“Reserve football is only good to a point, and it was time for me to get out there.”

Murdoch has formed an impressive partnership in the middle of the park with Jamie Lindsay, the on-loan Celtic player, but he admits it is strange to be on the same side as him after spending their formative years as direct rivals.

“We played each other all the time because we were the same age group, so we were always coming up against one another for Rangers and Celtic,” he said.

“We were also away on a few Scotland camps when we were younger and he’s a very good player.

“It was a bit strange at first to be playing together after so long as rivals, but it’s great to play with him.”

Not that Lindsay is the only player he has formed an understanding with. Morton have been the surprise package of the Championship this year, and Murdoch puts that down to their incredible team ethic.

“We’re quite happy to go about our business under the radar and not get too far ahead of ourselves,” he said.

“We’ve been really good as a team together. Think of the St Mirren game on Hogmanay, we went down to 10 men but we rallied each other and got behind each other to get a result, and I think it’s that team ethic that has gotten us to where we are.

“I’m just glad to be playing to be honest and getting games. All I want to do is keep playing just now, and I’m really enjoying being back playing my football.”