PEDRO CAIXINHA is just 24 hours away from his most defining 90 minutes so far as Rangers manager.

For all the proclamations from some of his players, the Portuguese isn't going to be the man taking hold of the Premiership trophy from Neil Doncaster in May before thrusting it skyward into a clear blue sky.

For a club that craves success - something they've pretty much been starved of for half a decade - Rangers fans need to look for their fix in other places. Winning the Petrofac Cup? You can keep it. Battling your way above Aberdeen for the right to finish in second 20 points behind Celtic? No thanks.

Rangers' Europa League run was grounded before take off in Luxembourg, thus thrusting pressure on Caixinha from the very start of what should have been a clean slate for the new Ibrox manager. Now, he's potentially always two games away from a crisis. Two games, incidentally, being the best winning run he's managed to string together since arriving in March.

Winning one of the cups was always going to be a key target for Caixinha to keep fans - and his bosses - on board while the rebuilding job at Rangers trundles on. Bombing in Europe, losing at Ibrox to Celtic , as well as dropping points to Hearts, Hibs and Partick Thistle have only sharpened the focus on the Betfred Cup.

On the back of commanding victories over Hamilton Academical and St Johnstone, Caixinha now has another chance for a hat-trick of wins at the semi-final stage over Motherwell. However, it is one of the biggest - if not the biggest - game in a navy blue blazer.

Momentum has been slowly building at Rangers and recent weeks. The manner of their wins away in Hamilton and Perth tell the story of a team, while not quite blowing teams away, certainly have enough about them to deal professionally in the face of testing opposition.

Tomorrow's crunch at Hampden is a completely different affair, though. Lose to Motherwell, and it all counts for NOTHING and Caixinha is once again teetering.

And his team could easily lose this.

Only a point separate Rangers and Motherwell in the standings with the Steelmen sitting a place behind in fourth. There was little between them when they met on the opening day of the campaign at Fir Park. Rangers won 2-1 and produced their most scintillating football of the campaign in the opening 25 minutes. But Motherwell could, and quite possibly should, have taken something.

That stands as only one of three of 15 games Motherwell have lost this season, racking up 11 wins along the way.

In Louis Moult they have the best striker in the league outwith of Celtic, and in Stephen Robinson they have a a savvy manager who has drilled a tireless work ethic into a potent mix of experienced but able pros such Peter Hartley and up-and-coming young thrusters like Allan Campbell, Chris Cadden and Cedric Kipre.

Rangers and Celtic may have received more billing than both Hibs and Motherwell put together from a certain TV broadcaster this week but the threat posed to Rangers by the latter is more than sizeable. The way they dismantled an Aberdeen team that are currently top of the Premiership speaks volumes about not just their endeavour and ability to scrap, but a system founded upon quick passing, interchanges and dynamic forward play.

With perhaps the exception of Celtic, they are the last team Rangers could be doing with playing in such a colossal game.

It says a lot of where both teams are that this one will come down to what Motherwell do as much as Rangers. If the team from Lanarkshire fancy it, can deal with the occasion and not freeze, Rangers will be in for a long afternoon.

Caixinha has bobbed along as Rangers manager without making any sort of great waves.

He can finally make a splash if he grabs that elusive hat-trick of victories which he simply has to tomorrow.

Hit the big claret and amber iceberg, and that sinking feeling will soon return.