MARK WARBURTON insists there was no need for him to go on a Parkhead spying mission to scout out Scottish Cup rivals Dundee.

Dees boss Paul Hartley saw his much changed side earn a point against Celtic on Wednesday as they moved up to fifth place in the Premiership standings.

But Warburton opted not to make the trip across Glasgow to see the Gers’ quarter-final opponents in action at close hand.

Rangers are favourites to progress to the last four this weekend and the Ibrox boss is relishing the eagerly anticipated tie.

He said: “We’ll get a recording of the game and will watch it. Dundee played three at the back with five different personnel, so what do I gain from watching that?

“If I thought it would be beneficial I would have gone but I sat at home watching Aberdeen versus Dundee.

“I looked at that game to see what they do and how they play.

“People go to games sometimes for the sake of it, to tick a box. For me you only go if you think it’s beneficial. You don’t just go for the sake of being seen in the crowd.

“Paul put it in the press that he was going to play different personnel. He indicated who he was going to drop and was true to his word.

“That tells us they have strength in depth because they went to Celtic – who are top of the table – and played with confidence and belief in what they’re doing.

"They got a good result and from what I’ve seen from the game it was a very well deserved draw.

“It wasn’t a lucky draw. So good luck to him, it’ll be a good test on Saturday but we’ve got to look forward to that and enjoy it, surely.”

The last eight clash at Ibrox tomorrow will see Warburton’s side face top flight opposition for the fourth time this term as they bid to move a step closer to the silverware.

The Gers lost to St Johnstone in the League Cup earlier this term but saw off Kilmarnock at the second attempt in the last round to set up the Dundee showdown.

And Warburton reckons the Ibrox tie will be another useful learning curve for his side as they look to clinch the title and secure their Premiership place in the coming weeks.

He said: “I don’t know where we would be in the Premiership, it’s all supposition. We are a young team and, don’t forget, we brought in 11 players in the summer.

“We are only seven or so months in to our development. We know our philosophy and what we want, but we are still raw.

“It would naive to think you can go against established teams like Aberdeen, Celtic and Hearts, who have battle-hardened squads in Europe as well as the Premiership.

“We’ve got a young squad with lots of potential.

“I didn’t know what to expect of the Premiership when I came in. I always look at it with my Rangers head on - how do we compare?

“You see players who are absolutely committed and always give 100 percent.

“If you are slightly below your best or ill-prepared in any way then you’ll pay the price.

“Down South when there was one or two not on it, that was your opening. At Brentford you’d see a couple didn’t fancy it. But up here everyone is 100 per cent committed.”