Peter Houston says that Dundee United have banished the bad memories of their 7-1 reversal away to Rangers in December and are ready to make amends by emerging from Ibrox with a place in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup on Sunday.
The Tannadice club were in a state of upheaval when they suffered the huge defeat at the end of 2009, having just lost manager Craig Levein to the Scotland job a week earlier.
Houston was in temporary charge of the team then as the club tried to appoint Bohemian’s boss Pat Fenlon to the job, only for the deal to fall through.
Levein’s former number two at the club has since assumed control of team matters and has got their impressive start to the season back on track, lifting them to third in the SPL table. With a chance of revenge now presenting itself, Houston is confident that the one-off nature of the tie can work in his team’s favour.
“If there's one tie you wouldn't pick, it's the champions away from home,” admitted Houston. “But it's a one-off tie and we are looking forward to the game.
“I think it's a marvellous opportunity to win. We will see what we can do and do our very best, then hopefully it will be us in the semi-final on Monday morning.
“I think we have put it [losing 7-1] behind us because our form since then has been magnificent. We've won a lot of games, won a lot of hard and difficult games.
“As I say, it was a bad margin to lose a game with. But I think we have improved since then no end. The confidence in the players is high and there was other distractions at that time at the football club.
“I think we are well over it now and we're actually looking forward to going back to Ibrox.”
Rangers have been in impenetrable form having won their last five games and have now gone over four months without defeat on domestic duty, stretching back to their 1-0 loss away to Aberdeen in November.
The odds appear to be stacked against Dundee United in that sense but their manager is refusing to concede the tie is already over, saying that his team have what it takes to spring a surprise if fortune favours them on the day.
“Rangers' form in the league has been fantastic,” said Houston. “They lose very little goals and they score a lot. But I just feel it is a great opportunity for us to go there and try and attack, make sure we lock the door at the back and try to get through to the semi-final.
“I just feel that on our day, if we play the best we can and Rangers aren't 100 per cent, then anything can happen.”
