Glasgow Rangers were handed an exciting draw in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup after winning their quarter-final at Ibrox.
With just one Scottish Premiership appearance to his name since arriving at Ibrox in 2017, Jak Alnwick would have known that his best chance of playing for Rangers in an Old Firm game would be if the two rivals were drawn together in a cup competition.
Barring the Scottish Cup victory over Ayr in February when he was unavailable, Alnwick has played in each of the Gers’ cup games this season, returning between the sticks for Sunday’s quarter-final with Falkirk which helped set up a semi-final with Celtic.
Given the importance of the game, some Rangers fans may be urging Graeme Murty to change his system to put usual number one Wes Foderingham in goal for the showdown at Hampden Park, but if Alnwick gets the nod, he has to look at the game as the best opportunity he is going to get to stake a claim to be considered more of a rival for Foderingham than an understudy.
If he is given the nod, it will be, by far, the biggest stage that the former Newcastle starlet has played in since arriving last January, so it may perhaps be the best chance that Murty has to have a look at the 24-year-old when the pressure is on.
Foderingham has perhaps opened the door ever so slightly with a couple of questionable moments in recent times – including a real howler in the win over Ayr – and Alnwick may have feared that with only cup games to look forward to, he may struggle to make the most of the potential opening.
But with the draw handing Rangers’ players another chance to become heroes amongst the fans by securing the bragging rights, Alnwick can perhaps now see the moment that he has needed to put some serious pressure on Foderingham if the number one is not at his best over the next month or so.
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