IF Greig Spence beats Rangers again this afternoon then he may just get to keep them. Two seasons ago he was with Raith Rovers when they triumphed over the Ibrox side in a memorable Ramsdens Cup final. Last season he scored twice in the semi-final of the same competition as Alloa Athletic recovered from two down to reach the final, a result that pushed Ally McCoist closer to the exit door. Now the former Celtic fringe player heads to Ibrox with Cowdenbeath this afternoon looking to add a William Hill Scottish Cup scalp to an already impressive individual collection. “Hopefully I can be lucky again for a third time,” he said. “It would be good to keep the run going.”

Raith’s cup victory was quite spectacular. Spence appeared as a substitute in injury time of what had been a quite turgid 90 minutes and made a telling impact as the tie moved into extra time. “I remember getting a shot away, their goalkeeper has parried it and [John] Bairdy has put it away for the winner,” he recalled. “The scenes after that were unforgettable.”

Fast forward a year and Spence was now an Alloa player. His capacity to cause mayhem to Rangers, however, had not diminished. A midweek December trip to their Indodrill Stadium had looked ominous for Rangers, those fears realised as they blew a two-goal advantage to tumble out the cup. A Spence winner in the 89th minute sealed their fate.

“That was the best night of my life football-wise,” he admitted. “To put Rangers out of a cup by scoring two goals is something you dream of as a wee boy.”

Spence did not spare Rangers in the aftermath either, offering the opinions that the “fear factor” that traditionally accompanied such a tie had long since evaporated. That was 13 months ago. Now, he noted, Rangers under Mark Warburton are a much different proposition.

“It will be a different kettle of fish this time, a lot more difficult,” he added. “It must seem like night and day from their perspective from last season to this one. I felt last season that teams didn’t fear them. This year you’ve got to as they’re taking lots of goals off teams in their own league every week. But there’s no pressure on us as nobody expects us to do anything. But we will be going there trying to win.”

This will be Spence’s first ever run-out at Ibrox. His three years at Celtic didn’t yield a single competitive outing for the first team, while he missed both of Alloa’s league matches in Glasgow last season due to injury. It is an occasion he is looking forward to and one he can approach with some confidence, having scored seven goals in his last five appearances.

“I’ve played at Parkhead and Hampden so it will be good to play at Ibrox as well as you want to experience all the big arenas in Scotland. We’re playing well as a team just now and I’m managing to chip in with some goals. I’m in good form just now so if I am ever going to score at Ibrox then it will be this weekend.”

His chairman will no doubt be on hand to offer directions around unfamiliar surrounds, with Donald Findlay returning to the club where he was once vice-chairman. “He had a few words to us before the last round as he was desperate for us to get through as he’s a big Rangers man. For him personally this is a big day. And I’m sure it will be worth a few quid for the club as well.”