Kevin Thomson hopes Kris Boyd will rediscover the goalscoring form which saw him claim five goals against Dundee United when the two sides meet again in the Active Nation Scottish Cup this weekend.

Boyd stole the show as Rangers romped to a 7-1 win against United back in December and his impressive goal haul on the night allowed him to overtake Henrik Larsson as the Clydesdale Bank Premier League's most prolific goalscorer.

The striker is now battling to find the form he was enjoying before undergoing a double hernia operation and has not found the back of the net in his last three outings for Gers and Thomson said: "Hopefully we can get him back to that form pretty soon. Another result like that would delight us all."

He added: "We had a purple patch over the Christmas period and it was all about Boydy. No matter what he hit, it went into the back of the net."

Thomson concedes United are now a different prospect to the team they faced last time around.

He added: "It will be a tough test. Dundee United have come through a sticky patch and they're starting to play well again.

"It's going to be a tough one for us. They have picked up and they have boys who are scoring goals at the moment."

Rangers needed two attempts to overcome both Hamilton and St Mirren in earlier rounds of the competition and Thomson hopes Sunday's clash will be more straightforward for the holders.

"We are certainly making it hard for ourselves but we're hopeful it won't go to a replay on Sunday," the midfielder told Blues News.

"I don't think either team would really want a replay so I'm pretty sure it will be an open game. With the cup-tie atmosphere at Ibrox, we're really looking forward to it and fingers crossed we get a positive result."