Forthbank Stadium in Stirling is the venue for tonight’s contest and the young Gers have already claimed the scalp of League Two outfit Clyde – as well Bo’ness United in the opening round – in the competition this campaign.
Gentles, who doesn’t celebrate his 17th birthday until later this month, was on the scoresheet in the competition last season against Scottish Championship side Airdrieonians and says he can’t wait to be involved once again.
Speaking to RangersTV to preview the clash, the teenager commented: “It’s a good competition for us because it gives us the opportunity to play teams who are higher up in the leagues, which means we’re getting exposure to first-team football.
“It’s a step up in level and the competition itself has some top teams in it which makes us challenge ourselves to see how good we are against older men.
“The Bo’ness game was a really weird one because we went down early and it was difficult to get back into the game because they were really stubborn at the back, but we found a way to get through.
“Clyde was a tough test; we went down in the game again but, again, we done well to get back into the game.
“It’s one of those things where if you win, you’re going to keep playing better teams. You want that opportunity to play against tough teams in the competition.
Gentles signed full-time with the Rangers Academy last year and, by October, was already on the scoresheet for the B Team in a Glasgow Cup triumph over Queen’s Park.
Since then, the teenager has been involved with David McCallum and Malky Thomson’s B Team on a regular basis, as well as helping the Under-18s lift the Scottish Youth Cup at Hampden in May.
The Welsh youth international says he has relished the step up in level and believes it has only served to help his development.
He added: “I’ve actually enjoyed both the B Team and Under-18s, jumping between both and playing games.
“The challenge at the B Team has been good, but even then, dropping back to the Under-18s is still hard.
“Making my B Team debut? I was a bit nervous because I think I came on really early because someone got injured. I ended up playing 70 minutes and I hadn’t really played before with the B Team.
“I remember we played Queen’s Park and I scored quite early which settled me down.
“I just wanted to play my game and not really think about the significance as much.
“Did I feel I was ready? At the time, perhaps not, but I felt like as soon as I was playing I knew I was good enough.
“I knew that playing with better players as well would make me play better as there’s better quality around.
“I felt physically I wasn’t ready at the time because size was still a big difference, but I’ve started to get used to it.
“I have adapted my game as much as I can because at Under-18s level I can probably bully players a bit more than I can with the B Team. It’s about trying to adapt and find different ways to do it.
“I have had adjust technically and be a lot faster with the ball. The longer that you take on the ball against players who are stronger and faster then you’ll just get shoved off the ball. You need to be quicker with movement and all the small details.”
You can buy your tickets for this evening’s match at Forthbank Stadium HERE, priced at just £10 for adults and £5 for concessions!