RANGERS star Lewis Macleod appreciates that his club's No.1 priority this season will be to win promotion back to the top flight of Scottish football.

But although league success will be his top target, Macleod insists Ally McCoist's players owe it to their fans to go for glory in the three cup competitions they are still contesting.

The 20-year-old midfielder knows that joining the biggest clubs in the country - not least Old Firm rivals Celtic - in the SPFL Premiership would help to improve the Ibrox outfit's perilous financial situation.

Talks involving senior club officials and former director Dave King about a potential £16million rescue package have been taking place for a number of days.

The Light Blues players can do their own bit to boost the Gers balance sheet by landing this season's Championship title to secure extra income from broadcasting, sponsorship and season ticket sales.

Yet, Macleod believes he and his colleagues cannot afford to focus solely on the league.

The playmaker is adamant that Rangers must also look to land some silverware this term - and that includes the Petrofac Training Cup.

That ambition is not shared by every club. Hearts crashed out of the renamed Challenge Cup tournament after making 10 changes for a second-round tie against Livingston.

The Tynecastle team are nine points clear of Rangers at the top of the second-tier table having played one game more than their nearest rivals.

Evidently, they have made winning the league their main objective. But with the Light Blues having won the Scottish Cup on 33 occasions and the League Cup 27 times, Macleod accepts that trophy success is expected by their supporters.

He knows many fans were left gutted after Rangers lost to Raith Rovers in last season's Ramsdens Cup final at Easter Road back in April.

Macleod sat out Tuesday's quarter-final tie with East Fife at New Bayview but he was pleased to see his team-mates cruise to a comfortable 2-0 win.

He said: "There is no doubt the league is the top priority for Rangers this season, as it is for us every year.

"But at the same time, doing well in the cup competitions is also important to us.

"In the last two years we've not really had a good cup run apart from the Ramsdens Cup last term. And that ended in bitter disappointment for all of us, players and fans alike.

"We also did well to get to the Scottish Cup semi-final last season and we were all deeply disappointed when we lost to Dundee United at Ibrox.

"When you are playing for a team like Rangers you always want to win cups and leagues.

"We have to be looking to do that this season as well. That is just what you have to expect when you play at this club.

"However, we are confident we can do that.

"It would be a good way to repay the fans who come and support us week in, week out, no matter who or where we are playing. I am sure that the fans would be more than delighted if we managed to win at least one cup this season."

Scotland Under-21 international Macleod has returned to his best form after making a full recovery from the viral infection that sidelined him for several months last season.

And he should be back in the starting line-up on Saturday when Gers take on Dumbarton in a Championship match at the Bet Butler Stadium.

He will also, if he remains fit, be in McCoist's side for the League Cup quarter-final tie against Scottish Cup holders St Johnstone at Ibrox three days later.

Then Rangers will return to Dumbarton on November 1 for a William Hill Scottish Cup third-round tussle.

Macleod, who has scored six times this season, netted the only goal of the game in the Light Blues' 1-0 win over Premiership high-flyers Inverness at Ibrox last month.

It represented only the second occasion since they dropped down the divisions two years ago that the Glasgow giants had managed to overcome a team from the top flight.

However, Macleod is optimistic it will not be the last occasion they do that this season.

THE prodigiously talented player revealed Rangers' squad are optimistic heading into the St Johnstone game.

He said: "Inverness were arguably the in-form team in the country when we beat them in the last round of the League Cup.

"That has given us a lot of confidence as a team going into future games in the cups against top-flight opposition. Next week we face St Johnstone and we know they're another good team. But we are quietly confident in the dressing room that we can do well no matter who we face.

"We have to keep working hard in training and in games.

"This season we are facing a better standard of opposition week in, week out, than we were facing last season.

"We are playing full-time teams. It has been a definite step up from League One.

"That will help us when we come up against Premiership teams in the cups. We know that St Johnstone will be hard opponents and we will have to play at our best against them.

"We want to win the league this season and get back up to the top division.

"But this is Rangers, where you are expected to do well in every competition you are involved in - and that includes the cups."