Rangers eased to victory on Sunday night as they beat Cove Rangers 4-0 in the third round of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox.
Steven Gerrard named a strong starting line-up for the fixture and was rewarded for that when goals by Jermain Defoe, Kemar Roofe, who scored twice, and Nathan Patterson put the Light Blues in a commanding lead before the break.
Rangers probably could have won by more but out of professional courtesy and not wanting to over-exert themselves in a game that was already won, they took their foot off the gas a little bit after half-time and eased their way into the fourth round.
Celtic await the Gers in the next round of the Scottish Cup, which will be the first Old Firm derby in the competition since 2017 when they beat us in the semi-finals.
But the game could have gone very differently if BBC Scotland journalist Chick Young’s prediction was right.
Ahead of kick-off at Ibrox, Young was quoted on BBC Sport’s website as saying that he can could see the game being a tough one for the Premiership champions.
With Rangers suffering just two defeats in all competitions this season and winning games by huge margins on a regular basis, it was a bizarre prediction, to say the least.
Young said: “I don’t see Rangers absolutely steamrollering them. Cove are an organised side and Paul Hartley will want a disciplined display.”
Hartley is doing a good job at Cove, who are second in League One. But the second-best team in the third-tier of Scottish football shouldn’t be – and wasn’t – any trouble for the so-far-unbeaten Premiership champions.
Young should have known better than to suggest a giant killing could have been on the cards at Ibrox.
Yes, we’ve seen David slay Goliath – in relative terms – when Brora Rangers knocked Hearts out of the last round.
But for Cove to have beaten Rangers, it would have been even more of a shock than that due to the way Gerrard’s men have played this season.
In other Rangers news, the Gers are in hot pursuit of this Merseyside-born midfielder.