GOING to Central Park on Friday night to play Cowdenbeath will be a bit of a culture shock for Steven Gerrard and his players but it is all about the result at the end of the day. If there are any egos in that squad, then leave them at the door on your way in.

I played there twice during the 2014/15 campaign in the Championship and I don’t have fond memories of either game to be honest. The first was a 3-0 win and the second was a goalless draw in the first game after the regime change as Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan took control at Ibrox.

It is a strange setup with the big fence that runs around the perimeter of the stadium, the fans are so far away from the pitch and there is not much atmosphere. The pitch itself had tyre marks on it because cars had come off the track and went on it.

It was certainly an eye-opener and it was hard to get the ball down and play. I remember the manager saying to us that we would have to go route one and that changed our game plan on both occasions.

It isn’t the best place to go and play a game but Rangers can’t be thinking about any of that come kick-off. It is about starting well and having the right mentality.

They might need to change their style a bit and go a bit more direct because of the state of the pitch, but they certainly have the quality to get through relatively easily if their heads are in the right place.

Central Park is a grounder, that is for sure. It is a night for rolling your sleeves up and going there and doing what needs done.

It is the first game since the Old Firm win and Rangers need the same attitude for this one. You can’t take anyone lightly or you can come unstuck when you don’t expect it and Rangers won’t just turn up and expect to breeze through without working for it.

The squad have had a break in Tenerife now and they will be recharged and ready to go for the rest of the season so they need to pick up where they left off at Ibrox.

That approach against Celtic, when they didn’t give them any time on the ball and really took the game to them, is when Rangers are at their best and the manager will want to see that on Friday night.

The first game back can be difficult sometimes and Steven would prefer if it was at Ibrox, but it is what it is. You just need to go and get the job done.

Games like this are all about your own attitude. If you go there with the right mindset and you know it is not going to be like a normal game, and you are prepared for that, then you will be fine.

Steven and Gary McAllister won’t be taking anything for granted here. They will have done their homework and will prepare everything accordingly, so they won’t leave anything to chance.

All these sort of games, for any big team going in against a side from a couple of divisions below, is a banana skin. Whether it is Scottish Cup, FA Cup, whatever, knock-out football does bring surprises.

It is up to the players to go out and roll their sleeves up, win the second balls and then let their superior talent and quality come through and win them the game.

Friday night is not about how well you play or who performs well. If you can put on a good showing, brilliant.

But it is all about the result, all about just getting through to the next round. You win and then you move on.

It could take Rangers a couple of games to really get into their stride again and Steven won’t be too concerned about the performance at Central Park.

If they get through, win by a couple of goals and don’t pick up any injuries, that would be the perfect scenario for Rangers.

What is certain is that they won’t take it lightly. They can’t afford to because if you want to win medals at Rangers, you need to pass tests like this.

The Premiership is the priority for Rangers this season but they have a real chance of winning the Scottish Cup and that is something the manager will be determined to do.

Rangers need to be winning silverware and it is always nice to end the season on a high by winning the final game at Hampden.

But you can see by the transfer activity so far in January that Rangers fancy their chances of winning the Premiership. They have recruited brilliantly with Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis coming in this month.

The recruitment has been absolutely spot on and you never know, there may still be another one or two to come in depending how the next couple of weeks go.

Rangers certainly have the squad to challenge for silverware this season. Now they need to go and prove that they are capable of winning things, starting against Cowdenbeath.