BRIAN Laudrup last night insisted lifting the Scottish Cup this season would be as significant for the current Rangers team as completing Nine-In-A-Row was for the legendary side he was a member of.

Laudrup returned to Glasgow yesterday to help newly-crowned PDC world darts champion Gary Anderson carry out the draw for the fourth round of the William Hill-sponsored competition at Hampden.

His former club was drawn to face Premiership club Kilmarnock at Ibrox in the last 16 next month - a tie they would have expected to win comfortably back in his own heyday.

But, of course, so much has happened at Rangers since those heady days and they currently find themselves battling to win promotion back to the top flight after over three years in the lower leagues.

There is no guarantee that Mark Warburton's side will overcome Gary Locke's team when they square up to them in February never mind go on and be successful in the tournament this term.

Laudrup, though, has been encouraged by the definite steps forward which have been made on and off the park in the last year and is hopeful that his former employers are on their way back to the top of the game here.

He reckons winning a major trophy in the 2015/16 campaign would be a significant milestone for the present squad - and in the history of the club overall for that matter.

"I think the players at Rangers right now will be desperate to win a trophy again," he said. "If it could be the Scottish Cup that would be for these guys as big as Nine-In-A-Row was for our team.

"Some of these players have been playing in the third and fourth tier and are now looking to get back to the top flight. So I think it would be a huge, huge success for these guys.

"Some of these young players haven’t been playing for that long and will realise that it’s a huge club. From what I’ve read, some of them have been surprised by the hype surrounding Rangers Football Club. Even the manager, Mark Warburton, has been surprised by it in a positive sense.

"They face a huge test against Kilmarnock. To play a Premiership side when you are playing in the second league, they have to prepare themselves and we will see how they go from there. It will be interesting."

Laudrup added: "Most supporters would love Rangers back up because it means a lot to how the Premiership is. In terms of Europe, it would be good to have not just Celtic but another team representing this country.

"But it will take years. As you know, it’s a very young side – with talented, hungry players. Young, hungry players are fearless, but sometimes also sometimes careless because they don’t have the experience and they need that.

"So it will take time. But hopefully there will be a very successful future for Rangers Football Club."

Laudrup still monitors the progress of the club he spent four years at during the 1990s back in his native Denmark and has been saddened to see their struggles in the last four years.

He admitted he was poised to return in an ambassadorial role during Charles Green's spell in charge in a bid to help them recover - but the former chief executive left the club suddenly and nothing happened.

"Obviously it’s difficult for me as well living in Denmark as I haven’t seen Rangers play for a number of years, but I try to read as much as I can on the internet," he said.

"There were rumours a couple of years back that I was asked by Charles Green about becoming an ambassador and they were true - but then he left and I never heard anything from him. I think he went to France or something like that.

"I was prepared to help at that time. Any former Rangers player would love to help out in any way. I was asked by Charles Green back then and I said that if I could help then I would be happy to. But, as I say, he disappeared.

"I would have loved to have helped the club at that time. It was a little bit strange, but I understand he was very busy with other things. There are signs that there are some great people coming into the club to help."