VISIONS of smiling fans and dreams of days out at the cup final with balloons and facepaint and sunshine are rarely subjects of discussion at Rangers these days, but they do make a pleasant diversion from the Strange Case of Rafat Rizvi.

Rizvi's name did not merit so much as a mention yesterday as Ally McCoist, the manager of the League One champions, relished the invitation to talk purely about football and a match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the second round of the League Cup that really does add a touch of on-field intrigue to everything else going on around Ibrox right now.

Perhaps it is not surprising. No-one seems to know the slightest thing about Rizvi. Rafat who? At Ibrox? With us? No, no. There must be some mistake.

Not since The Black Death was rife has one man been given such a wide berth by all and sundry.

The very mention of his name, coupled with those photographs of him laughing heartily with the Rangers director, Sandy Easdale, last week, has had supporters talking about an all-out boycott of home matches. As of yet, though, that course of action has not been decided upon and McCoist realises just what a victory over one of the Premiership's more impressive sides - the weekend walloping at Firhill notwithstanding - would do for a fanbase largely demoralised by their club's never-ending financial woes, speculation surrounding would-be suitors such as Mike Ashley and Dave King and a board whose messages become ever more mixed.

Four and a half years have passed since Rangers won a cup. Their last appearance in a final ended in humiliation with Raith Rovers beating them in an affair sponsored by Ramsdens. McCoist is not prone to raising expectations too highly, but, fresh from a fine display in beating Kirkcaldy's finest 4-0 last Friday, he wants his players to bring a badly-needed sense of cheer to a club hanging together by a thread against Inverness tonight.

"Within the fanbase, you sense morale is quite low at this moment," said McCoist. "We know we have an added importance in the job we do. We must, at least, give them something to be happy about on the park. I definitely think the boys have achieved that in recent weeks, but it will be put to the test. It would be brilliant to give them something.

"I sound like a broken record. Getting back to the top flight is 100 percent the priority but, come on, we all want a cup run. We got a good cup run in the Scottish last year and got to the semi-final. We were really devastated at not making the final.

"It gives everybody a great day out. A cup final is something that, prior to administration and liquidation, our fans had great hopes of us appearing in at some stage and it would be great to get back to that."

Cup competitions have brought little other than despair during McCoist's time in charge with Inverness one of several teams to have dished out a lesson in recent seasons, strolling to a three-goal win at Ibrox in the 2012/13 version of the League Cup. It hurts McCoist to this day. "They all sting," he said. "That 3-0 stings, Raith in the Ramsdens Cup final stings. I remember the defeats more than the wins."

Questions over an individual's form, no matter his pedigree, come with the territory too. Kris Boyd has failed to score in five league outings, missing a number of chances against Raith, but it seems inevitable he will score a barrowload during his second spell in Light Blue with McCoist suggesting he would not be surprised to see him on the scoresheet this evening.

"I'm not losing any sleep over it and I don't think for a minute Kris is," said McCoist, who has a passing knowledge from his own career about putting the ball in the net. "He's scored five goals in the cups and he had a goal disallowed at Falkirk, so it's not as if he doesn't look like scoring.

"While I do sympathise with the night that he had [against Raith], I think we all know Kris well enough to say that there's nothing surer than him getting on the end of something, for me against Inverness, and being there to take a chance.

"The team is everything. I told Kris after the game that, at the second goal, he was absolutely brilliant closing someone down. He dropped back into an area, won the ball back and knocked it to Black, who scored. People maybe won't see that."

Shortly before that match, Rangers announced the results of their Open Offer to existing shareholders. McCoist, who held a stake of around 2% in the club, invested. Whether that was done purely to help keep the lights on or because he believes in a brighter future, he cut a reluctant figure when asked to detail how substantial his investment was. "It depends how you would look on it as substantial," he said. "A few quid, yes. I just thought it was the right thing to do."

Buying shares in Rangers represents a gamble. Betting on them, particularly against a team from a higher division, is somewhat similar. The bookies clearly fancy them to beat John Hughes' side, but Nicky Clark, whose place in the side may soon be under threat with Kenny Miller closer to a return from a calf tear than initially expected, is reluctant to declare McCoist's side pre-match favourites.

"You would need to ask the bookies that," said Clark. "Being at Ibrox is a wee bit of an advantage for us, but Inverness are a good team."