Annan Athletic manager Peter Murphy says that his side will be under no pressure ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Rangers.

The Galabankies set up a tie with the Scottish champions last month with a dramatic 4-3 win over Clydebank in the last round.

And Murphy knows what a big opportunity this is for the Scottish League Two side.

Speaking to BBC Radio Cumbria he said: “It’s a big game, a great game for the club, the town and the supporters as well.

“I’m trying to look at it as just another game for us and for my players not to get caught up in the atmosphere and just try and concentrate on the game.

“We know we’re going to have a very tough game on Saturday and Rangers, if they don’t win four or five nil they’ve failed, so there’s no pressure on my players whatsoever.

“I watched them on Sunday to try and get a few tips and they beat Hearts 5-0, so we know it’s going to be very difficult.”

Murphy, a former Republic of Ireland international, took over the role as Annan manager in 2017 where he joined as a player-manager before hanging up his boots in 2019.

And he says the financial impact of a cup run is huge for a team like Annan.

He said: “Any cup run that any club gets at our level really helps, I think it’s the second time we’ve been in this round so the financial implications are great.

“Cup competitions like this can sustain a club like ours for another couple of years.

“Particularly after a couple of years with Covid that we’ve had and the financial implications of not having the revenue coming in, the revenue this cup run will bring in will really help us. “

And Murphy is far from ready to rule out the possibility of the cup dream continuing beyond this round, insisting that all the pressure will be on Rangers going into the game.

He said: “The cup gives you that dream.

“In the last round we were out with four minutes to go and then we scored two goals to get ourselves through which was an unbelievable experience.

“Anything can happen with the romance of the cup we’ll see what Rangers bring on the day.

“What I’ll be trying to put across to my players is to go out and enjoy it and embrace the experience and if we an get a result then that’s the cup dream.

“For my players there’s no pressure on them at all and if they go out and perform and put on a good performance, we’ll see what happens.”

Annan face Rangers on Saturday February 12, with coverage beginning at 5pm on Premier Sports and kick off at 5;30pm.