Wallace hoping Rangers can lay down a marker for Premiership with Motherwell win

This is a new campaign, there is a fresh squad and an entirely different challenge awaits the Ladbrokes Championship winners in the Premiership.

Nevertheless, Lee Wallace believes getting the 2016/17 campaign off to a positive start with victory in their opening Betfred Cup match against Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday will be important.

"It is important to put down a marker on Saturday for the start of the new season,” he said.

"It's a big part of how we are as a team. We want to put a marker down on the first day, we want to hit the ground running, we want to be the best we can be.

"I know there's going to be a tough schedule of four games in nine days, but we want to progress through this new-look cup and be in the best possible shape for the new league season starting against Hamilton at Ibrox.

“We are happy with the way pre-season has gone. It was physically tough in the States and now we are back home we can feel the benefits.

“The intensity in training is through the roof and that's as a consequence of being in the States. We are in a good place and all the new faces have come in and added to the quality we've got.”

The last occasion Rangers travelled to Fir Park they were on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat in the second leg of the Premiership play-off final – a result that killed off their hopes of completing what had been dubbed as “The Journey”.

Wallace is one of just a few players who have survived that humiliating reverse. Only Kenny Miller and young players Robbie Crawford and Tom Walsh remain at the Ibrox club from that day.

Wallace confessed the 6-1 aggregate defeat which Rangers suffered in that outing was one of the biggest disappointments of his playing days. He will, though, use the result as motivation to perform well this weekend and is confident his new-look team can show how much they have moved on.

“We’re a completely new squad and have a new manager, but it still lingers in the minds of a couple of us,” he said. “It wasn’t a nice summer. It was a massive disappointment both for the team and me as an individual.

“It was a real low point in my career, not just the immediate aftermath of the game but the overriding emotion of the two legs. But it was easily put to bed. The fact is we’re now a new squad, a new team, a new appetite and a new style. Everything come into it.

“It will make us fine on the day. It will be a hugely competitive game, we know that. Motherwell will be strong opposition but we certainly want to hit the ground running.

Wallace added: “There’s no doubt when we went down there were going to be ups and downs that was one of the major ones. I like to think over the years I’ve learned to turn them into positives.

“That’s the mindset the manager is trying to develop throughout this club and at the training ground. Any disappointment is the first step to learning and we’ll be a better squad for it. We’ve been refreshed over the summer with the arrival of the new players and we’re ready to go.”

Rangers have only managed to play one pre-season match – against Charleston Battery in the United States – ahead of their first competitive match of the new campaign. Wallace, however, is comfortable with the situation and is confident they can get off to a winning start this weekend.

“It is not ideal to have a couple not involved,” he said. “Jordan (Rossiter) is away with his country, Joey (Barton) has just joined us so he missed the trip to the States and Matt (Crooks) is injured.

“But the ones who were in America have gelled superbly and that’s another huge positive in going to these places. It gives you that opportunity to socialise when we’re not training and allows us to talk tactically about how the team likes to play.

“I’ve had a number of different chats with guys such as Niko (Kranjcar), Clint (Hill) and Josh (Windass). The trip in itself was great for that side of things and now we’re looking forward to Motherwell.”