Ben Davies reveals the galvanising Rangers effect of Clement as Belgian has them believing ahead of Hampden

Ben Davies claims beating Betis was a major leap forward for rejuvenated Rangers - now he wants to step it up again at Hampden.

Philippe Clement’s side were this week faced with a huge twin task as they first were challenged with reaching the Europa League knockouts before the Viaplay Cup Final clash with Aberdeen. They ticked off the first of those assignments with Thursday night’s sensational win over Real Betis. The 3-2 triumph not only ensures Gers will continue in UEFA's second-tier tournament, but it also allows them to skip a potentially hazardous play-off showdown with one of the Champions League drop-outs as they move directly to the last 16.

But the next stage of that Euro adventure will have to wait until March, with Gers now switching focus to the second leg of this week’s momentous missions. And Davies admitted the stakes will be even higher at Hampden as they square off against Barry Robson’s Dons for this season’s first piece of silverware. The defender said: “Thursday feels like a big leap forward. It feels like a big result for us.

“But we have a massive game on Sunday and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We know what Sunday means and straight after the game in Seville we were looking towards it. It’s a chance for silverware.

“As a club we’ve been through the cycle of Sunday, Thursday so we’re quite used to it now. We’re looking forward to the final because we know what it means.”

Rangers smashed their Spanish hoodoo in Seville as they recorded their first ever win over La Liga opposition at the 14th attempt with a daring display at the Estadio Benito Villamarín.

And Davies admitted: “I wasn’t aware of that stat, I didn’t know Rangers hadn’t won in Spain. We knew at the start of the week it