Rangers face Dundee in the Premier Sports Cup tonight knowing a victory makes it five wins on the bounce in domestic competition and also delivers a place at Hampden.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be desperate to show that European form is merely symptomatic of an elevated level of competition his team are yet to find themselves accustomed to rather than a regression in class.

Here Graeme Hanna assesses three of the main discussion points ahead of the match.

Keeper conundrum 

Now, this is an interesting one. Does van Bronckhorst stick with the League Cup rotation policy between the sticks or do something different? Could he even call upon Robby McCrorie to make the case for himself? Rangers' goalkeeping situation at present could be described by Winston Churchill's quote on Russia in 1939, "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". Motherwell on Sunday saw the latest goalkeeping error, but Allan McGregor will keep the gloves as first choice for the foreseeable. As for tonight, the odds probably favour Jon McLaughlin but if not now for McCrorie, when?

Matter of priority

"Some competitions are stronger than others" was the diplomatic line used by van Bronckhorst yesterday to reference the fact that the League Cup is the poor relation in terms of domestic honours in Scotland. For the Old Firm, the opening two rounds rarely get the juices going but it is the last eight with a place at Hampden up for grabs and then suddenly a final and a trophy is in sight. Gio knows all about the relevance of this competition in Scotland, given that it was the first that he won as a player in 1998. Win it and the treble is on, the League Cup has that effect in Scotland as well as in the perennial battle for Old Firm supremacy. Last season, Rangers ended the domestic cup drought with the Scottish Cup victory over Hearts. It was long overdue and so is another League Cup success which last happened in 2011 under Walter Smith following 'that' Nikica Jelavic goal in extra time to secure a 2-1 win over Celtic. Rangers are the record holders in this competition with 27 wins over the years. The trophy runs through the history of the club and that is why it matters. This quarter-final tie against Dundee also represents a great opportunity to regain some confidence, to get amongst the goals and to get back into the groove ahead of league business against Livingston on Saturday. 

Rest and Rotate

The manager has already indicated that some changes will be made for this game, a rare and unwelcome 8.15pm kick off. A balance needs to be found between protecting key first teamers, giving others their opportunity to shine as well as involving youth. This is also not a night to be taking risks so don't expect to see an experimental line up from van Bronckhorst this evening. In the last round against Queen of the South, Auchenhowie products Adam Devine and Robbie Ure started the game with a very youthful-looking bench. There is a strong case for Devine to be given the nod once again, given that he is the only backup for James Tavernier at present. The captain could do with a rest, even if the manager insists that he is fully fit with plenty of noise emanating around his form and condition. Scott Arfield is another who should be omitted given that he has just played three games in the space of a week. Given keeping him fit is so important, selecting Ben Davies would be a big call. James Sands is ready to feature in defence or midfield and will likely be considered. Ridvan Yilmaz should see game time on the left flank whilst the game presents a chance for the likes of Malik Tillman, Rabbi Matondo and Fashion Sakala to push on, adding to their recent contributions. Alfredo Morelos will be eager to play whilst Kemar Roofe will return to the squad tonight.