ALEX RAE will find himself transported back to his youth when he returns to Ibrox this weekend and enters the away dressing room.

The St Mirren manager used to regard that part of the old stadium as his home during his days on the Rangers groundstaff before Graeme Souness swept into the club in 1986 and shunted him out of the exit door as part of his grand revolution.

Rae, of course, did return to play for the team he supported as a boy in 2004 and went on to be part of Helicopter Sunday, winning a league title and a League Cup during his time in Light Blue.

Memories of a different era will, briefly, flit through his mind before kick-off on Saturday, though. Rae had so many wonderful days at Ibrox as a boy, so many dreams invested in the place. It seems impossible that he will not enter the visitors’ dressing room and be remembered of the good and the bad he experienced there.

“I have never come up against Rangers before as a coach, manager or player,” revealed Rae.

“There is no doubt it is going to be a little strange going back to Ibrox under those circumstances, but I used to get changed in the away dressing room as a young boy at Rangers.

“I had a year-and-a-half there as a kid. I remember bowling about it 30 years ago and I know it hasn’t changed.

“It still has the same look, same traditions.

“It was just great having the opportunity to start my career there and I have fond memories of having the chance to work beside some of the people on the staff at that time such as Davie Cooper, Ian Durrant and Derek Ferguson.

“It was an impressive time, but I don’t want to spend my time this week going down Memory Lane. I have a game to focus on.”

Rae has never hidden his Rangers allegiances. In his work as a media pundit, he was actively involved in charting the trials and tribulations of recent years at Ibrox and voicing his opinions publicly.

He insists, though, that no-one should doubt his professionalism when he takes St Mirren there on Ladbrokes Championship business.

“It will be easy for me to go there and do my job,” he said. “I have no reservations about it.

“I will go there as if it is a normal game. We need to get points at St Mirren and the professional element kicks in. I only want the best for St Mirren at the moment.”

Rae is certainly relishing the opportunity to truly place his own mark on a club as manager. He took over at Greenhill Road following Ian Murray’s resignation in December with the side just four points off bottom spot.

Three wins out of four have propelled them up the table, though, with relegation concerns lessening by the week and the once-unthinkable possibility of squeezing into the Play-Offs threatening to force its way onto the agenda.

Rae does have previous managerial experience, having taken Dundee to second and third place in the old First Division before being removed from the position in October 2008. He remains proud of his work there, but insists he has returned to management with a much stronger armoury.

He worked with Paul Ince as a first-team coach at MK Dons before serving as his assistant at Notts County and Blackpool. Alex McLeish also chose him as his right-hand man at Belgian club Racing Genk and Rae concedes all those jobs merely boosted his education in the game.

“I always wanted to get back into the hotseat,” he said. “It was just down to circumstances and the opportunities you get when you are out of the game and waiting to be a chance.

“Consider the two people who took me as their number two. It is an England captain and a Scotland legend in Paul Ince and Alex McLeish.

“Both of them have won everything at every level. Having the experience of working with them was terrific for me and I also have two-and-a-half years as a manager at Dundee under my belt.

“Whatever path in life you follow, you cannot beat experience, though. I am better prepared now than I was at Dundee.”

St Mirren take on a Rangers side still coming to terms with the loss of top scorer Martyn Waghorn, but Rae believes there will be no problem for them in replacing his goals.

“Rangers have enough quality within their ranks and I think you saw that with Kenny Miller’s goal against Queen of the South at the weekend,” he said.

“Nicky Clark is back in the team, Michael O’Halloran has come in, Jason Holt is there and Barrie McKay has really come into his own this year. Nicky Law is there as well, so Rangers have goals throughout their team.

“Obviously, Waghorn will be a loss due to the fact he was almost providing a goal a game, but Rangers and Hibs both have strength in depth and we are under no illusions over what a difficult game it is going to be.

“I think it has been a year since anyone beat Rangers at Ibrox in the league, but we have to live in the hope that we can get something.”