IN a week when Celtic put seven past Aberdeen, forcing bookmakers the length and breadth of the country to slash the odds on a double-figure hiding before the season's out, Jimmy Calderwood could be forgiven for dreading Rangers' return to Dunfermline, the scene of their most callous, cutting display in some time.

Honesty, however brutal, is one of Calderwood's many endearing qualities and his admission that their last meeting was ''6-0 going on 12-0'' was perhaps the most sobering statement on the inequality of the Premierleague to date.

His team, after all, are in joint third place in the league table and are, quite rightly, lauded as one of the most eye-catching entertainers outside of the Old Firm. Most tellingly, though, they also trail the league leaders by 15 points.

It is impossible to avoid an inferiority complex over a 38-game season but tonight's CIS Insurance Cup quarter-final is an occasion where atonement carries considerable reward. Failure by the best of the rest to wrestle some silverware from the Old Firm's grasp in the last five years is not lost on Calderwood, no stranger to a yawning class chasm from his time in the Dutch Eredivisie, but the task is not one that intimidates him.

''It's not as if we are shaking with fear because we got beat

6-0, not at all,'' he said, bullish as ever. A formation for every occasion, it seems, Calderwood, whose team were also on the receiving end of a 4-1 cuffing by Celtic, is pragmatic enough to concede that be it 2-3-5 or 5-3-2, there is nothing to stop either of the Old Firm at equilibrium.

''If Rangers play at their best and we play at our best, Rangers will win because they've got the best players, but it's not always like that; it's a cup-tie,'' he reasoned. ''There's a lot been written recently about Rangers and Celtic and the gulf but hope-fully we can try and change a few people's minds.''

Considering the outcome of their previous meeting, Alex McLeish could be excused for taking the opportunity to welcome back injured players who, under normal circumstances, might not have been risked. Lorenzo Amoruso, Maurice Ross, and Shota Arveladze have all recovered, medically at any rate, from the various ailments that have precluded them from recent participation and it would make perfect sense, given the stigma still attached to this competition, to involve all three in the interests of enhancing what is known in the business as match fitness.

The manager was not for letting slip even a semblance of a selection yesterday but, amid much apathy towards the tournament, McLeish was not for disrespecting a tournament which will always hold special memories for him, having made it his first trophy as Rangers manager last season.

It seems likely, however, that Amoruso - ''a first-choice central defender alongside Craig Moore'' - will be restored along with Ross, whose establishment in the Scotland team has had a knock-on effect at club level, oddly enough.

Stephen Hughes has watched his club-mate and contemporary's development with a large dollop of happiness if a drizzling of envy. The fair-haired midfield foal was due to join Ross on Berti Vogts' field trip to the Far East, an enriching experience for the new manager as well as those pups plucked for fame in a Popstars fashion, but a knee injury put paid to his audition.

In turn, it also left him unable to start this season as he had finished the previous one, namely in regular contention for a first-team place. The arrival of a certain Mikel Arteta would not have helped his malade, seeing as the Spaniard's services were not secured without a cheque for (pounds) 6m being signed off to Barcelona, but in the last month he has returned to fitness and suitable form for reintroduction.

''Maurice did well in Hong Kong and hasn't looked back and obviously sometimes you wonder what might have been, but I have a long-term approach to both Rangers and Scotland,'' said the 21-year-old, who signed a five-year contract in the summer. ''The main thing for me this season is to pick up more experience and challenge the likes of Mikel for a place, but I think next season will be an important one for me.''

Hughes' 30-minute involvement in last season's final, against Ayr United, earned him his first senior medal with Rangers and with the captain, Barry Ferguson, requiring rest for his long-standing pelvic injury, the CIS Insurance Cup might again prove a lucky competition for Hughes.

First, though, Rangers must overcome a Dunfermline side seeking atonement, with two former Ibrox team-mates - Barry Nicholson and Scott Wilson - especially anxious to avoid a repeat of their last meeting at East End Park.

''Scott had not played a lot of games at that point but he is now benefiting from a run of games. Obviously it must have been difficult for him to leave Rangers but I'm sure he and Barry are looking forward to playing against us again.''

Football can, indeed, be a perverse pleasure.