Newly appointed KILMARNOCK caretaker manager, Lee McCulloch, says it will be “surreal” taking a team to Ibrox for the William Hill Scottish Cup clash.
However the ex-Rangers favourite has been occupied trying to bring back his players’ confidence to think too much about his own situation.
Rangers legend Ally McCoist and Billy Davies, are two of the managers linked with the Kilmarnock job, but McCulloch looks set to be in charge against Rangers on Saturday.
The ex-captain said: “Who would have thought that?
“It’s pretty surreal, isn’t it?
“I’m looking forward to going back to be honest. I had eight great years there, no regrets. if you’re not wanting to go and play in this game then you shouldn’t be in football.
“I’m looking forward to it and I know the dressing, hopefully, will get their confidence back and be looking forward to it.”
But McCulloch admits it has been a hard task. Killie suffered a 1-0 defeat last time out and Locke’s departure followed hours after. The result left Kilmarnock second-bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership.
McCulloch added: “It’s been hard, the last week was the lowest I’ve ever seen the club… the players.
“The dressing room was really low so this week has been all about trying to get the confidence back and get a bit of enjoyment back into training.
“It was a sad place all round on the Monday but it’s up to the player himself to find that confidence back and want to go the extra yard in training to do that. There’s no better game to go into than Saturday’s.
“It is difficult circumstances. I spoke to Gary on Saturday night and obviously he was a little bit down, but he just said ‘get on with it.’ He is going to move on as well.
“It’s just about getting on with training, going into Saturday and we will see what happens next week.”
McCulloch said: “Everybody has got to take responsibility and that’s what we have spoken about this week, taking responsibility and trying to get a winning formula back.”
The Rangers squad has a different outlook since McCulloch left last may.
“They are on a roll just now, they are passing the ball really well, they are organised, they have a great manager, a great tactician,” the ex-Scottish international said “He knows the game inside out.
“So it’s going to be tough but we need to go there and believe. And hopefully we can just put on a better show.”
