Winning promotion is the priority for Rangers - Kiernan

Rob Kiernan believes Rangers will make a bigger statement about their future intentions by winning promotion than by knocking top-flight Kilmarnock out of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Gers have made rapid progress under Mark Warburton since last year's squad suffered a humiliating end to their bid to return to the Premiership.

They remain on course for the Championship title with an eight-point lead over Hibernian, having largely played some enthralling football along the way.

But the Light Blues' doubters are still waiting to see them defeat an opponent from the top division before deciding if they will be genuine contenders to topple Celtic next year.

So far, they have suffered a painful Scottish League Cup exit after being beaten 3-1 by St Johnstone, while Killie held on for a goalless draw in last week's original cup tie at Ibrox.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's Rugby Park rematch, however, centre-back Kiernan insists claiming a Premiership scalp is not high on Gers' list of priorities for the season.

The former Wigan defender said: "We just see it as another game. We treat it exactly the same as every other game we approach.

"We proved in the last game we were more than a match for Kilmarnock. We could have won had we tucked our chances away.

"I don't think we get too focused on the fact they are a top-flight side.

"Yeah, we are making progress and there is a lot more progress to be made.

"I can understand where you are coming from, it is a good test for us and tomorrow night will be another little statement for us. But we don't tend to look at it like that.

"The bigger statement to make is to win promotion. That's the long-term goal."

Rangers will face the second instalment of a three-match run on plastic pitches when they travel to Killie.

They slipped up on Alloa's narrowed astroturf surface on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw and also face an examination on Queen of the South's 3G turf next Sunday.

The use of artificial pitches has been fiercely debated over the past week since PFA Scotland released the results of a survey suggesting the majority of players would prefer to play on real grass - and Kiernan agrees. He said: "I can see from a financial viewpoint why they are used but I don't particularly like them.

"But I knew they were used up here before I agreed to come, so I can't really make excuses. I would like to see them gone, though.

"The amount of injuries that have been recorded on them... and the general play is so different. So I think it would be beneficial to the game up here if they weren't used.

"If they are going to be used, they should all be to the same standard so that there's no an advantage to the home side who get to train on it every day."