RANGERS have two aims between now and the end of the season. One is to finish second in the Premiership and the other is to win the Scottish Cup.

The cup is the only thing that Rangers can win now and everyone wants to be involved in the last game of the season at Hampden.

But I think finishing second is the priority ahead of winning the cup. People will say ‘what would you rather do, win the cup or finish second?’ Of course Rangers want both.

Read more: Mark Warburton: Rangers have unfinished business in the Scottish Cup after Hampden heartache against Hibernian

But not getting second place would be a huge disappointment to everybody and we have to make sure that we are the runners-up in the Premiership.

It is important for Rangers to get back into Europe next season. Mark Warburton and David Weir have spoken about the difficulties reaching the Scottish Cup final could cause them but that won’t make them any less determined to go all the way in the competition.

It will be a strong side that lines up against Motherwell tomorrow afternoon. Against a Premiership team, Mark can’t afford to take any chances. Rangers won’t do what you have seen clubs do down south in the FA Cup and throw a couple of kids in.

The cup is important, of course, and this is the game of the round without a doubt, but seeing off Aberdeen, Hearts and St Johnstone will remain the main aim in the coming months.

The result against RB Leipzig last weekend was obviously disappointing but in terms of the run-out it was useful for Rangers. The manager will have learned a lot about his players as well and it is clear that he wasn’t impressed with the performance at the Red Bull Arena.

We won’t face a team of Leipzig’s quality in the second half of the campaign but the players have to prove that they have learned from that game.

Read more: Mark Warburton: Rangers have unfinished business in the Scottish Cup after Hampden heartache against Hibernian

Rangers will have to be at it on Saturday because the fans will turn up and expect the team to get through. Yes, they will want to see the side play well but winning the game is the most important thing.

You would rather scrape through having not played well than turn in a really good performance but lose the game and find yourself out of the cup.

There is no doubt that this is a really important game for Rangers. It only takes one defeat for the flak to start flying again so there is pressure on Mark and the players going into this one.

That was the case against Hibernian back in May and, on the day, Rangers couldn’t deliver. It wasn’t the end to the season we wanted but the manager and players will have moved on from it.

You can never look back in football. The cup final last year is gone and you can’t have that in your mind this season.

I lost three Scottish Cup finals and three League Cup finals but I won five of each. When we lost, it wasn’t a case of ‘we have lost this year, we are going to win it next year’. You just pick yourself up and get on with it.

The players would have enjoyed the run to Hampden and they have some great memories of the build-up to the final. But the disappointment of losing it will have hit a lot of them hard.

They would have gone away on holiday knowing that they should have won the game but that won’t give them an extra incentive in the competition this season.

What it does give them is experience. They know what it takes to win quarter-finals and semi-finals, they know what being at Hampden on cup final day is all about.

They are capable of getting back there and that will undoubtedly be the aim. You can only take it game by game, though.

Last year is gone and they rightly took a bit of stick for losing the final in the manner that they did. I don’t think the squad will be looking back, and they won’t be looking too far ahead either.

Motherwell is the game to focus on so let’s just win this one and then we can move onto the next round.

Read more: Mark Warburton: Rangers have unfinished business in the Scottish Cup after Hampden heartache against Hibernian

You will never hear the manager saying that they will get to the final. He will only look to Saturday and then we will see what the draw brings.

That has to be the attitude because you can’t afford to get ahead of yourself. That is when you get problems and you can come unstuck.

The draw with St Johnstone and defeat in the Old Firm game meant that we dropped five points in the last two league games of the year and that is not how Mark would have wanted to round off the first half of the campaign.

The advantage over Aberdeen has been cut and when we get back to league matters next weekend at Fir Park there will be a lot of pressure on the team to avoid another slip-up.

Things can change very quickly in the table and Rangers know that they have to put a run of results together. That will start, hopefully, with a win at Ibrox tomorrow.

It is important that they kick-off the second half of the season with a win, put the last couple of results behind them, and start to build a bit of momentum again.

Consistency has been a real problem for Rangers this year and that has to change if they are to get second spot in the Premiership and have a good run in the Scottish Cup.