MARTYN Waghorn became the first player in British senior football to hit the quarter century mark then said he fancied himself to score every bit as many goals if he was playing in the Ladbrokes Premiership rather than the Championship. The Rangers striker notched his second hat-trick of the season in the 5-1 William Hill Scottish Cup win against Cowdenbeath to move his personal tally onto 25 goals from 27 appearances, with no fewer than nine coming from the penalty spot. He said last night that his sights are now set on becoming only the second Rangers player in the last half century to score 40 goals in a season. Only former manager Ally McCoist has achieved that mark in the last 50 years, scoring 42 goals during the 1987-88 season and 49 in the 1992-93 season.
"I’d like to think I could still do it in the SPL ," said Waghorn, "with the team we have got and the chances we create. We are a passionate hungry side and I think we’d still create problems for the opposition. I’ll be tested when we get there. I might not get as many chances so it would be up to me to be more clinical.
"I think I could [get 40]," was his refined target for season 2015-16. "There are still a lot of games to be played. I’ll leave the door open to see how many I can get."
There will be a predictable clamour for the Old FIrm to be paired in Monday's last 16 draw, but having gone down 3-1 to St Johnstone in the League Cup, Waghorn feels top flight clubs should fear the Ibrox side more now than they did then. "I think more teams are going to be more bothered about facing us, with the form we are showing," said Waghorn. "We are Rangers and we are going to face difficult opposition in the cup, whether it is now or later in the rounds we don't mind."
While Waghorn's form could bring him to the attention of clubs south of the border, the Ibrox side are still looking to do some transfer business of their own. The club could strike a late deal to bring Accrington Stanley duo Josh Windass and Matt Crooks to the club this January, and have been pursuing Brentford midfielder Toumani Diagouraga. "When we conclude our business we can talk about it but right now we have a number of targets because the nature of this game is you have to have options one, two, three and four," said Warburton. "There are a number of players we’re looking at and working on and hopefully we can bring them here. If not, the squad is top of the league and in the next round of the cup."
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