Aaron Ramsey banishes Rangers fitness struggles as he hopes the worst is behind him

Rangers midfielder Aaron Ramsey hopes his fitness struggles are well behind him after putting in his longest shift for the club since joining.

The Welshman was a surprise starter for the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Dundee in which Connor Goldson, James Tavernier and Fashion Sakala secured a 3-0 win.

Signed on loan from Juventus on January's deadline day he made Giovanni van Bronckhorst's XI for only the second time and lasted until the 80th minute when he was replaced by young Charlie McCann.

And he told Premier Sports: "I'm delighted to get that amount of minutes under my belt again so hopefully I can build on this performance.

"It was important for us to be in the hat for the next round but, personally, I'm happy with the way things are going.

"Now it's time to build on this performance and have a strong finish to the end of the season.

"It's a talented team that's done very well of late. Hopefully I can stay fit and build on this performance."

Rangers join Edinburgh pair Hearts and Hibs in the semis and now wait to discover if city rivals Celtic will be the last name in the hat.

They travel to Dundee United on Monday night, after which the Hampden draw will be made.

And later in the week comes a massive Europa League second leg away to Red Star Belgrade with a 3-0 aggregate advantage.

"This is one of the reasons I came to this club," he added. "To be competitive and compete for trophies.

"There's another massive game for us on Thursday we have to look forward to and we have to be calm and professional in our performance.

"It's not going to be easy over there but we're looking forward to it."