You recently signed a new deal, was it something you had to think about or was it a no brainer?

It was something I was very happy to be able to sign and to get sorted. It had been talked about since the summer, obviously with the change of manager and various things it took a little longer. It was something we were very happy to be signing and it wasn’t something we had to think hard about, we’re very happy, me and the family. Really enjoyed our time up here so far and feel there is a lot still to come from me at this club.

The club hasn’t done well in the Scottish Cup in recent years, that’ll be something you’ll be looking to put right this year.

Yeah, of course. As you well know, every single game we go into, we want to win and we expect to win. If that’s in the league, if that’s in the cup, if that’s in Europe, we approach it in the same way. We’ll be giving Annan our full respect, our full attention. We know what it means for the fans for the club to get to the final of these competitions and to win these competitions so this is another step along the way and we’ll be giving it our full focus tomorrow to go and get that result.

Coming in as understudy to Allan McGregor, did that put pressure on you or did the move to Rangers come at the right time?

I feel that the move to Rangers came at the right time for me, I was ready for that to come to a club of this stature and play at this level. For myself it wasn’t a question of trying to emulate or overpass Allan or anything like that, it was a chance to come and work at this football club and to test myself and hopefully contribute my ability to the wider cause. Allan’s a fantastic goalkeeper and he certainly doesn’t need to be compared to anybody else. For myself, of course, there’s always pressure, you put pressure on yourself to succeed, to make sure you’re worthy of joining a club like this and you want to be able to contribute to a side that’s so successful and won so much. I’ve been in the game quite a long time now and I feel that I’m definitely at a stage where I’m more than capable of doing that.

How has the preparation been ahead of the Annan game?

We don’t have as much information or video analysis as we would do for most of the SPL teams but we still do have footage of games they’ve played in their division. It may be slightly different when they’re playing against higher league opposition, they may play a different way but at the end of the day, as is always the case, we try to focus on ourselves. We give them respect, we do as much research on them as we can to see where their threats will be, where their dangers will come from, where we can break them down, where we can hurt them We trust in our own ability, as a team and if you approach it in the same way as you approach league games and European games then the way that we work and try to break teams down there, we should be able to do the same against teams we don’t know a great amount of. It’s going to come down to us performing to the best of our ability and if we do that then we believe we’ll have more than enough to go and get the result.

READ MORE: Gio van Bronckhorst Rangers Q+A in full: Helander and Ramsey boost, Balogun update and Annan changes promised

If Allan McGregor is the keeper for the league, are you the cup keeper? Is that something you have talked about with the manager? 

It’s not a conversation I’ve had. Since I’ve been at the club I have fully respected that it’s the manager’s decision to pick the team they pick. I just need to be ready when my opportunities do come to take that and try and perform the best I can, and to show when I’m playing alongside a keeper as good as Allan that I can put in performances that are, at least, equal to that because when you do get those chances, even if they are few and far between, you want to make sure that you do yourself justice. But no, we haven’t had any conversations on being guaranteed this or that or not playing here or there. It’s making sure you are ready. 

It’s a different sort of environment tomorrow with only 2500 fans? 

These are always interesting games. I already have some experience of playing lower league teams. We played Falkirk last year on Astroturf. We also played Hamilton so we are at least used to that to a certain extent in that we have played on an artificial surface. It’s a huge occasion for that club. I have been there myself when I have played in England in the FA Cup. It’s why everyone loves these cup fixtures. There can be upsets, it happens more than people think so you have to take it very seriously and it’s another little aspect of the game you don’t normally face you have to overcome. We will go there and make sure we don’t slip up.  

How do you temper the excitement of a glamour tie against Dortmund with the need to stay focused for the Annan game? 

It’s always difficult. People would be lying if they said they didn’t have these things in the back of their mind and didn’t have a bit of an eye on fixtures like that coming up, especially the away fixture being first and the experience of going to that stadium, that atmosphere. It’s something that’s on a lot of players’ bucket lists to go and experience that but at the end of the day at a club like Rangers this is business as usual. The European ties are always mixed in there amongst league and cup fixtures. It’s part of the job here to make sure you have your full focus on that next fixture. You need to get that out of the way, make sure you are in the hat for the next round, which is the most important thing and then go and enjoy that Dortmund fixture. In the meantime, there has been absolutely no talk of that in the building from the manager or the staff. It’s fully focused on Annan at the moment. 

Do the last two games point to a resilience in the title race? 

Absolutely, everyone was hurt after the Old Firm game. Since we have come back from the winter break we have been trying to get back into that groove and we feel in the last couple of games we have seen some real reaction from everybody. Two really good performances against good sides and that’s been really pleasing for everybody and gets that confidence back in the side and we will try and keep that going tomorrow. It’s very important to keep that winning feeling going. Clean sheets, goals, all of that really helps the confidence to get the team back into a really good place for a fight over the next 12 league games. 

Did you speak to Allan before you signed your new deal and ask him how long he’s carrying on for? 

I think a lot of people will think he can go on forever if he wanted to. We haven’t had any genuine conversations about it. Of course, I want to play, I want to become a first choice regular at this club. That’s my aim. It’s not a case of trying to replace someone or take someone’s place. If Allan was to stay at the club, I would be delighted. It’s not a case of knowing what Allan’s plans are for the future, it’s a case of knowing I’m at a great football club. It’s a place I’m happy playing my football. I can see a good future for myself here, regardless of who else is in the building. Allan’s had an amazing career. We will wait and see but what happens there doesn’t come into the reckoning. 

Allan doesn’t have many off days but he has had the odd one recently. Do you play a part in getting him to pick himself up again? 

He’s not someone who need anybody else to tell him if he’s not performed to the best of his ability. He’s his hardest critic. He showed again (against Celtic) why he’s regarded as a very good goalkeeper, because of his consistency and ability to move on very quickly from each performance good or bad. That’s always going to be the mark of a top goalkeeper, which he is. Far be it for someone like myself to need to tell him what he needs to do to improve. He showed last year, winning the player of the season in the entire league that he’s well capable of handling his own business. He’s still a very consistent goalkeeper and it’s going to continue for the rest of the season I’m sure.