MARTYN Waghorn has missed his fair share of scoring chances over the years and knows the drill whenever he does so only too well. You curse your luck, you dust yourself down, you head straight back up the park and you go again. And again.

Yet, the vastly-experienced Rangers striker has, try as he might, been unable to put the gilt-edged opportunity which he squandered early on in the Ladbrokes Premiership match with Celtic at Parkhead last month out of his mind.

The Englishman was sent clean through on goal by a headed Kenny Miller flick-on early in the encounter and had just Craig Gordon to beat. He looked certain to put his team 1-0 ahead. But his weak left foot volley from the edge of the penalty box was denied by the outstretched leg of the goalkeeper.

The Ibrox club, managed by caretaker Graeme Murty at the time, performed well during that match and nobody could begrudge them the late Clint Hill equaliser that cancelled out Stuart Armstrong's earlier strike and earned them a 1-1 draw.

But the memory of the fateful moment has tormented Waghorn ever since and he admitted the chance to make amends for it in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden a week tomorrow is an appealing one.

“If I’m being honest, the chance I missed runs through my mind every day," said Waghorn. "I’d like to rectify that. But I need stay in the side and if I get the nod at the weekend I want to do my job.

“I’ve watched that last Celtic game over and over again. It was a brilliant save! Seriously, the ball took a little bobble, but I needed to get it more into the corner or slow down a bit.

“I needed to score it at that stage in the game. I could have done a thousand other things, but it was just one of those things. I’ve looked at it, I’ve worked on it and hopefully I get the chance to put it right. If I’m in the same situation at Hampden I know what I’ll do."

Pedro Caixinha, the Rangers manager, has refused to look ahead to his first meeting with Celtic next week while there is a league game with top six rivals Partick Thistle to be safely negotiated at Ibrox this afternoon.

But Waghorn admitted the opportunity to play against the Scottish champions would spur him and many of his team mates on against Alan Archibald's team.

“We don’t want to have one eye on the Scottish Cup semi-final because it’s about Partick Thistle," he said. "Whoever gets the shirt for that game will give their all for the team.

“But of course the Celtic one is a big one and everyone wants to play in it so it could be in the back of the players’ minds. The main thing is we get the win and don’t let the good work from Pittodrie last weekend go to waste.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but on a personal level I’d love to play this week and get the chance to stake a claim for a place against Celtic after missing great chances at Parkhead."

The display against Brendan Rodgers's side in the last Glasgow derby has given Waghorn and his team mates confidence they can emulate the epic semi-final victory they recorded over Celtic 12 months ago.

So, too, has their emphatic 3-0 win over second-placed Aberdeen at Pittodrie, a result achieved courtesy of a Miller double and a Joe Dodoo strike, last Sunday.

So much so, in fact, that the forward is adamant that Rangers, who are attempting to qualify for Europe for the first time in six years, can pip Aberdeen to runners-up spot even though they are still nine points adrift.

“That win was a huge psychological boost," he said. “It was nice to get the win after a lot of criticism and a bit of negativity going into the game over our chances of getting second place in the league this season.

"That’s the kind of result this late in the season that can put a bit of doubt their minds and it’s important we use it as a stepping stone and build on it.

“It’s up to the players now to have the right mindset. We’re playing for Rangers and have to win every game so we need a bit of belief and swagger.

“The win at Aberdeen was a big result, but it’s just one win and it’s what we do in the next game and the week after that. We all know what we’ve got to do to kick on.

“The manager has told us 1,000 times we need to move on to the next game. All the boys know their roles and it’s important to follow up with a good performance against Partick Thistle.

Waghorn added: “How many of our remaining games do we need to win to finish second? Six! To be honest, we take it game by game and see how it goes. We’ve got the big three post-split games at home so we’ll do our best and see where it takes us.

“We need to focus on ourselves and if other teams drop points then that’s great. The result last weekend was a big step in the right direction, but Partick Thistle have knack of nicking results.

“They are a hard working side and they all know their jobs and are defensively solid. They were dangerous when we played them at Firhill and they’ve crept into top six so it will be difficult, but we’re confident."