Jim Goodwin has told his St Mirren players to brace themselves for the flip side of football when they play Rangers on Wednesday night.
The Buddies bossed their William Hill Scottish Cup tie against East of Scotland Premier Division side Broxburn Athletic on Saturday and cruised into the fifth round with a 3-0 win.
Next up is a trip to Ibrox to face a side desperately chasing Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership and aware that every point is crucial.
Goodwin knows his team will have to show another side to their game in Govan.
He said: “We spoke about that this morning with the players.
“We thoroughly dominated the game on Saturday in terms of possession and all the stats – shots and corners and everything else.
“Wednesday is the complete opposite of what we experienced at the weekend.
“Rangers are a very good team; probably the in-form team in Scotland at the moment – a very good passing team, good movement. They’ve got great rotation in the middle of the park which makes life difficult and they’ve got great players in the forward areas.
“But if we put a good game plan in place like we have done in recent games against both sides of the Old Firm, then we’ll give ourselves a chance of getting something from the game.”
St Mirren were rewarded for their efforts against Broxburn with a home tie in the fifth round against fellow Ladbrokes Premiership side Motherwell, who have beaten them twice this season.
Goodwin said: “Motherwell have twice given us a lesson this season.
“Outwith Celtic and Rangers it is probably the next toughest team you could have faced.
“They are third place in the Premiership at the moment as well so they’re in form.
“It’s going to be a very, very difficult game but I would take anybody at our place, everybody wants a home draw.
“So I’m delighted with that and we are due to play well against them so hopefully that will be the day.”
