GRAEME Murty has urged his Rangers players to use the hurt of their last Old Firm experience as fuel to propel them to a Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Celtic today.

There was a wave of optimism ahead of the league meeting between the two sides on March 11, but there was a familiar outcome as Celtic, despite having 10 men and being behind twice, won 3-2.

Murty hopes his players can feed off the pain of that occasion to give their suffering supporters some happiness against their arch rivals and, of course, a place in the Cup final on May 19.

The fact it would also prevent Celtic from achieving an historic “double treble” would be equally joyful for the Rangers faithful.

“We should remember how much it hurt, remember we had good opportunities to get something from the game and I want them to use that as fuel to drive them to a more positive day.

“I want them to walk off the pitch with smiles on their faces rather than having that hurt they had the last time. If we get to that smiling sensation we’ll have done our jobs really well.

“There was lots of belief going into the last game and I believe they know how close they came. I believe this group is ready to take the next step and the next step is to win the game and that would set us up for a good end to the season,

“I would love to think that when they walk on to the pitch every single member of our team believes they can win. I’m not sure how many expected us to win last time. Internally, we were in a good a place and positive mood and there was definitely a positive atmosphere at Ibrox.

“And then when you take the lead within three minutes that feeds into it but we have to make sure that regardless of expectation, and what other people think about it, we’re clear on us, what we do and our expectations and aspirations.

“If we are, then I believe we’ll be together, cohesive and make sure we give them a tough game. Other than that, we won’t be paying too much attention to what people outside our environment say.

“It would be brilliant for the fans, the club and this group of players if we could win.

“If we are going to continue our progression in closing the gap and getting back to where we want to be then the next step is to win a game against Celtic and then go and win a trophy.

“I believe to win a trophy in this country, to win the league, you have to beat Celtic and we have to make sure we’re ready to go and take that next step.”

Murty has had to endure the distractions of chairman Dave King’s letter to share-holders and David Bates’ pre-contract with Hamburg in the build-up to today’s encounter.

He has also been handed very public advice from all quarters but he is only concentrating on what he can affect.

The return of Ross McCrorie and Graham Dorrans have been timely and he is in a situation where he has real options in terms of selection.

“Ross is a very balanced young man,” he said. “He doesn’t get too high or too low. He has been a positive influence in the changing room albeit he’s a young guy.

“He is a positive person to have around and I believe he made a difference when he came back last week. He’s a good one to have in the group, but he’s not the only one.

“There are lots of guys who have had a positive influence on the psyche of the group this week.

“I have decisions to make all over the pitch. Apart from David Bates and Ryan Jack, I have a fully fit squad. So I have decisions to make in terms of personnel and structure but those will be fully communicated to the players.

“I like to name the team the night before mainly because I want the guys that are not involved to get over their disappointment and bring positive energy to the changing room.

“I have been in the situation where the team is named an hour before kick-off and I have been in it. Then through no fault of your own you’re in a bad place, you’re in a bad mood and you can’t bring anything positive to the group.

“I want to make sure when we go into the changing room everything is focused positively on getting the right result.

“I just want to say to the players, concentrate on what we do well and don’t worry about anything else that’s out of our control. If we do that then we can get through to the final.”