Barry Ferguson wants Rangers players to feel pain as he prepares to 'bang heads' with new arrival

The staggered kick-off times mean the party will just be getting underway at Tannadice – should Celtic avoid defeat to Dundee United – as Rangers are completing their preparations for their 3pm clash at St Mirren, the first of five effective dead rubbers for the Ibrox side.

They won’t be able to avoid those scenes forever, however. And so, at some point over the weekend, images, videos and words hailing Celtic for a fourth successive championship will be making their way into the phones, televisions, radios and newspapers of Ferguson and his players.

The interim manager may not be the long-term solution for Rangers but he still cares deeply about the club and its current predicament. Seeing Brendan Rodgers, Callum McGregor et al dancing around Tannadice, having completed part two of a probable treble, will not make for pleasant viewing.

“It would be painful for me, it would be painful for my staff, it would be painful for the supporters and I want it to be painful for my players,” said Ferguson on the thought of the title being formally sealed this weekend. “Because you're at Rangers and we need to start challenging, properly challenging for trophies.

“(As a player it made for) horrible summers. And I was ready to come back in and work my backside off to make sure that didn't happen again. It's sore when you see your fiercest rivals win trophies, you don't like to see that. It should make you even more determined and hopefully that's going to be the case next season.”

Ferguson’s temporary tenure will have come to an end by then but he will be more than willing to share the intel he has gathered as a supporter, pundit and interim manager with new sporting director Kevin Thelwell and whoever else ends up taking charge.

“I've made clear that there needs to be outside investment, I've said it now for a couple of years,” he added. “So, it looks like it’s going to be close now, it's just hopefully a matter of time. I've not got a timeframe on how long that's going to take, but as a Rangers supporter of course I'm happy to see that talks are progressing well.

“We've seen a sporting director get announced in the last day or two. I've always maintained if the club wants to go and challenge and move forward there’s a hell of a lot of changes needed. But it's great to see that starting.

“I will [sit down with Thelwell]. We’ve not got an exact day. But I'll certainly be sitting down and banging heads together I suppose.”

In the short-term, Ferguson expects no letting up from his players, starting with a difficult trip to play a St Mirren side looking for their third successive win over Rangers.

“We’ve got five games to go and we want 15 points. I'm clear on that and the players understand that. We're going to a place where it's going to be difficult. We know that they're a very well organised team, in my opinion. They've got some very good players and a very good manager. So, we'll expect a tough game.”