The B team assistant coach recognised the challenges in tonight’s fixture but believes that the young Gers handled it well to progress to the next stage of the competition.
Speaking exclusively to RangersTV following their positive win in Edinburgh, he said: “I think it was a challenge, it’s a cup tie so there’s a different type of edge to it as well. Credit to Spartans, they were still throwing bodies forward and trying to make it difficult.
“If I had to summarise it looking at the first half, I was really pleased with a lot of the build-up play to get to the final third.
“The thing we spoke about at half time was the opportunities, it’s the momentum part that we speak about when the game can change on things like that. The more time that went on in the game, I thought that Spartans caused us a little bit of discomfort moving into the final third.”
Gilmour was pleased with the level of momentum showcased throughout the squad for the duration of the match and emphasised that it was key to securing their place in the next round of the cup campaign.
He added: “We play with a lot of energy with and without the ball, at any level in any game momentum can swing. I don’t think that it did, but small opportunities can make it difficult.
“I thought the lads stuck to it and never switched up. In the second half, we had lots of control and played higher in the final third, it took a free-kick from Alex [Lowry] to go and get the goal to ultimately take us into the next round.”
Gilmour emphasised the squad’s excitement to face Dumbarton in the next stage of the tournament and outlined the positives in facing different levels of oppositions.
He continued: “That’s why this competition is key for us, the longer you go the challenge becomes greater in terms of standings and positions in the league with Dumbarton. We played them last year and it was a difficult tie, we expect nothing different than the opposition making it a tough night.”
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