COWDENBEATH have a special place in my footballing career because it was against them back in 1970 that I made my Rangers debut.

I scored twice in a 5-0 win at Ibrox and the rest, they say, is history. So I have a lot of affection for Cowdenbeath and I have happy memories of playing against them, for sure.

Hopefully Jermain Defoe can follow my example now! There have been a lot of people saying that his eyes will be opened at Central Park tonight but I am sure he has seen it all during his career and nothing will surprise him if he makes his debut there.

READ MORE: Rangers defender Gareth McAuley delighted to be reunited with Northern Ireland counterpart Steven Davis at Ibrox

The pitch is the same as everywhere else and it doesn’t matter what the surroundings are like at the end of the day. Jermain will just get on with it, as will Steven Davis if he makes his second debut for the club.

The majority of the crowd at Central Park will be Rangers supporters so it certainly won’t be a hostile environment. It is not, with the greatest of respect to Cowdenbeath, the best place to make your debut for Rangers, but that is the game that is up and the game that they have got to win if they want to go on and win the cup this season.

That will be the ambition for Steven Gerrard and the players and the disappointment of the Betfred Cup semi-final defeat to Aberdeen will still sting a bit for them.

It was a great chance for Rangers to get back to a final at Hampden and they were the better side on the day, but Aberdeen got their goal late on and went through.

READ MORE: Steven Gerrard rules out a Rangers cameo in friendly with Helsinki at Ibrox

That was a huge disappointment because Steven knows that he needs to win things as Rangers manager and that will always be in his mind.

He was at a club in Liverpool that were always expected to lift silverware and for Rangers to show that they are back, they need to win cups and win leagues.

The Premiership is the most important thing for Rangers, but a Scottish Cup success would be a huge this season and they will put everything into this match with Cowdenbeath to get them into the next round.

If they could go all the way, that would be so important for the manager and the players, but even more so for the supporters because they have been starved of silverware for too long now.

Nearly is not enough for Rangers. Getting to semi-finals isn’t good enough, finishing second in the league isn’t good enough.

Steven realises that and he will relish that challenge because he has had that throughout his career. So that won’t phase him as he strives for silverware in the second half of the season.

READ MORE: Steven Gerrard prepares for step into the unknown as Rangers face Cowdenbeath

When the players have that medal round their necks and they are holding the trophy above their heads, that is when the supporters will know that they are truly back.

Winning the Premiership would tell everyone that Rangers are back where they were and back where they belong after a long and difficult few years on and off the park.

Cup wins are always a nice bonus to a season and there is no reason why Rangers can’t go all the way this term. It is one game at a time, though.

They are, of course, heavy, heavy favourites to win tonight but you still have to go out there and put in the effort and go and win the game.

If you don’t win the battle, you won’t win the war. Cowdenbeath will try and make it difficult for Rangers and will fight for everything but that isn’t a new for us, because that is how every team plays against us.

The level the players hit against Celtic before the break is the one they are going to need to play at most weeks in the second half of the season if they are going to win anything.

That is what the manager will be trying to get into the players’ heads and he will want them to be at it right from the off as they return to action at Central Park.

He will want them to start again as they mean to go on. It might not be the most glamorous game, but it is certainly a very important one for Rangers.