Rangers vs Annan Athletic LIVE score and goal updates from the Scottish Cup clash at Ibrox

First game of 2026

While Rangers are well into their calendar year campaign, with tonight's tie being their fourth of 2026, Annan have had no such schedule, with their visit to Ibrox their first game of the new year, having seen their away day trip to Stirling Albion postponed last week.

Their last action saw the Galabank men draw 2-2 at home to Stranraer on the 27th of December. They'll be hoping to shake off the ring rust with a performance this evening.

Annan snap up two

Annan Athletic will be hoping to channel some Queen’s Park vibes as they attempt to better the Spiders’ Ibrox heroics in last season’s Scottish Cup and they've coincedentally announced the capture of two of the Championship side's youngsters to bolster their squad for the remainder of the campaign.

Timam Scott and Darryl Carrick have arrived on loan from the City Stadium side with Annan manager Willie Gibson effusive in his praise of the pair following the announcement.

Speaking to the Annan Athletic website, Gibson said:

We’re thrilled to welcome Timam and Darryl to the club. They’re both young, exciting players with good potential and will make a positive impact on the team.

Big changes as expected for Gers

As expected, Danny Rohl has made a raft of changes for this cup tie against the League Two side, with NINE players swapped out for the Friday night festivities.

Liam Kelly not only comes into the side in place of Jack Butland, but will captain Rangers this evening, while Jayden Meghoma and Djeidi Gassama are the only players to remain from last weekend's 2-0 victory at Pittodrie against Aberdeen.

Nasser Djiga and Clinton Nsiala will form the centre-half partnership, while out-of-favour midfielders Joe Rothwell and Kieran Dowell come in from the cold to fire the Ibrox engine room in the middle of the park.

Up front, Danilo and Bojan Miovski start, with the former able to operate in a slightly deeper-lying role, should it be required.

New signing Tochi Chukwuani could be given his Ibrox bow from the bench, as the crowds eagerly await the imminent announcing of his fellow Dane Andreas Skov Olsen's arrival.

Ibrox night was best and worst of my career

As a YTS kid at Rangers Chris Jardine’s job was to look after the first team training kit right down to the undies as Walter Smith’s men marched to 9-in-a-row.

Sixteen years later the diehard Gers fan was part of the Annan Athletic side that pulled his heroes’ pants down at Ibrox. Jardine admits that third division shock in March 2013 was one of his best days in football - and also one of the worst.

He’d been steeped in the Rangers traditions by legends including Paul Gascoigne, Ian Durrant and Ally McCoist. Now here he was helping deliver a humiliation to his beloved club, who were already reeling from financial implosion, and manager McCoist.

Tonight Annan make their first journey to Ibrox since that never to be forgotten afternoon where goals from Ally Love and David Hopkirk sealed three sensational points. Jardine - who made over 450 appearances for the Galabank club after his Gers dream ended in 1997 - plans to be among pals in the away end for the Scottish Cup fourth round clash.

But the 47-year-old will be keeping everything crossed that there’s NOT another seismic shock. Casting his mind back, the former midfielder recalled the bittersweet feeling leaving Ibrox that evening and how another of his mentors - the late Gers kitman Jimmy Bell - sought him out to ensure he left with a momento of his greatest ever result.

Jardine said

That was one of the best days I've ever had in football but one of the worst as well. I was there as an Annan player wanting to do my best, which we did and ended up winning 2-1.

But as a Rangers supporter I was like, ‘what has happened to my club?’ As a fan it was a really strange feeling. I had loads of family and friends there - in the Rangers end, they weren't there supporting Annan!

I remember Ally McCoist shook everybody's hand afterwards. But the one person that spoke to me was Jimmy Bell. I was desperate for a strip but I was a bit scared to ask because Rangers had just been beaten by Annan and we all know how big a Rangers man Jimmy was.

But he actually came to the dressing room after that and gave me the number four top. That was a really nice touch because he knew what it meant to me.

Wincey, wincey Spiders

Liam Kelly certainly hasn't forgotten the nightmare Rangers went through 12 months ago.

And the Light Blues back-up keeper hopes the rest of his squad remember the painful lesson of what can happen when standards slip at Ibrox.

Rangers are resurgent now under Danny Rohl after a horror start to the campaign.

But only Russell Martin's record-equalling Brugge battering comes close to the humiliation heaped upon the club this time last year as Philippe Clement's side crashed out of Scottish Cup at the hands of Championship strugglers Queen's Park.

That mortifying spectacle - a result that ranks alongside Berwick Rangers in the Ibrox hall of shame - began with Spiders sub Seb Drozd firing past Kelly and ended with keeper Calum Ferrie batting away James Tavernier's stoppage-time penalty.

Twelve months on, memories of that bleak afternoon still make Kelly wince.

Which is why the 29-year-old is hellbent on making sure there is no repeat when League Two part-timers Annan Athletic visit Govan for this term's opening Cup clash.

Kelly - who will make just his second appearance of the season in the fourth-round clash - said

It's a game we'll be taking absolutely 100 per cent serious. We know Annan are capable of having some good results. They've got some good players.

They've just recalled Tommy Goss, one of their main strikers, who left them for East Fife at the start of the year. My wee brother Shay plays in League Two [with Dumbarton]. I watch a lot of Scottish football, I'm aware of the situation.

Wullie Gibson's the manager, who I've played against a number of times when I was on loan at other clubs. It's a game that we're taking absolutely serious. We're desperate to win.

Obviously we got the major shock and upset last year so we've got the biggest reminder possible that we can't slip up.

On that day everything that could have possibly went wrong did. It was awful. But in a way it's something to remind us that if we come off the boil then we're going to get punished.

Listen, looking at the way the manager's been since he came in the door, I don't think he'll be allowing us to take our foot off the gas. It's an opposition we're treating in the exact same way that we treated Celtic.

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