DAVID McCALLUM says he’s been pleased with the progress of the B Team’s journey to the last eight of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
The Light Blues will meet Queen’s Park in the quarter-finals at an unconfirmed date as they seek a passage into the final four of the competition.
The side were victorious in the last 16 with a comprehensive victory over Stenhousemuir last month, while they also count Clyde, Bo’ness United and Fraserburgh among vanquished opposition this season.
Speaking to RangersTV to reflect on the side’s progress this term, McCallum said: “It’s a tournament that we enjoy.
“Over the years where we’ve been involved in that we’ve managed to get to the latter stages.
“We were in the semi-finals a few years back, and last year we lost to Airdrieonians who were the eventual winners of the tournament.
“To now get ourselves to this stage in the quarter-finals to go against Queen’s Park in attempt to reach the semi-finals, it’s one the boys will look forward to.
“We’ve scored goals in the competition and done reasonably well defensively.
“We know going against men that we’ll be challenged differently. They won’t always make it about being patient and slow, but rather they’ll identify us as being younger and make it difficult for us to defend our penalty box.
“I think we’ve dealt with that challenge really well.”
Rangers are the sole B Team representation in the competition heading into the last eight.
And it is testament to the hard work and application from the players, who have navigated several changes in the squad throughout the rounds.
McCallum continued: “We’ve never looked at it about being the last B Team [in the competition]. We’ve looked at it as a competition that we want to stay in.
“We want to be challenged and play in stadiums against men. We want it to be difficult and not straightforward because that doesn’t give us the challenge that we believe the players need.
“This is a moment in time for the players, to make sure they develop and get the appropriate challenges at the right times.
“The B Team is a team in nature, but in actuality the way that it works is a lot of individuals coming together for a game.
“We have a number of boys training with the B Team group, but a number of those are out on loan.
“There are also ones coming up from the Under-18s, while there are others from the first-team who perhaps need more training minutes.
“We know the purpose of the B Team, but we want to make sure every individual gets the best opportunity and that’s why we exist.”