THE wait has been too long for Ryan Jack and the Rangers support. On Sunday, it could finally come to an end.

Eight years after their last major silverware success, the Light Blues will make the trip to Hampden with Celtic standing in their way. Three years after moving to Ibrox, Jack will travel to the National Stadium with the same ambition and a winner’s medal in his sights.

The midfielder knows as well as anyone how important the next success is for Rangers, how much the next trophy win would mean to a support that has been put through the emotional wringer season after season for some time now.

The arrival of Steven Gerrard has given those same fans some hope at long last. Now it must be turned into something more tangible as the biggest 90 minutes of the season approaches.

Jack said: “It would be huge (to win a trophy with Rangers). Since the manager has come in he’s always said there was an expectation and we need to match that.

“The manager has built a squad that we think can go and compete so hopefully Sunday is a great opportunity for us to get our first trophy as a squad.

“The supporters are desperate and we’re desperate as well. We’re hungry. I think it’s important that we go and play and show how hungry we are.

“There’s a of frustration [from Wednesday night], scratching our heads and thinking what if, but Sunday is massive. What an opportunity to go and deliver for our fans, the first trophy in a long time.

“When I signed for the club, it was an opportunity, a club that can go places, can compete in Europe as we have and hopefully go and deliver trophies.

“So far, it’s not been the case on the trophy front but Sunday is all about the squad and I’m sure if we turn up and play as well as we can then we can get a good result.

“Yeah we have [beaten Celtic before], but we can’t really take that for granted because it’s a totally different game. It’s a cup final and a trophy at stake so it’s a wee bit different on that front.

“We’ve shown before that we can compete at that level, domestically and in Europe so there’s nothing to fear.”

The countdown has been on to the cup final for several weeks but it is only now that Gerrard and his players can really focus on the occasion and the challenge.

A win over Hearts got a crucial month off to a positive start but Rangers will head to Hampden on the back of the draw at Aberdeen on Wednesday night.

Jack looked to have clinched the points when he made it 2-0 after half an hour but goals from Jon Gallagher and Andy Considine salvaged a point for the Dons and denied the Gers.

“It’s a difficult one,” Jack said. “We’re obviously down and frustrated. Those first 35-40 minutes we absolutely controlled the game.

“The game looked how we wanted to be having worked on it all week in training. We were excellent in that initial period but from half-time onwards it just wasn’t good enough.

“First and foremost we can’t expect to always come away to tough places like Pittodrie and expect to control the full game. There will be times where it’s going to be tough and we’ll have to dig in.

“Going forward we’re going to have to cut out the slack goals that we’ve conceded over the last few weeks. I’m sure we’ll address it and pick the bones out of it.”

Given the short turnaround time between the matches against their two fiercest rivals, the post-mortem would have been brief in the aftermath of the Aberdeen stalemate.

And Jack reckons the importance of Sunday’s Celtic clash means it will be easy for Rangers to put their frustrations behind them and get back down to business.

He said: “It’s a tough one and I’m sure we’ll be scratching our heads thinking, ‘What if?’

“That’s just natural because when you throw away a lead like that it does hurt.

“But now we’re back in the training ground it’s important that we put it behind us before Sunday as it’s such a huge game and there’s no time to let this affect us.

“I’m sure at some point we’ll address what happened and how we lost the goals but Sunday is a massive game and it’s important we go into that with clear heads.

“It is [the perfect game to bounce back with on Sunday]. It’s a great opportunity to go get a trophy and compete in a cup final against your rivals.

“It’s going to be a great day and a great game. Wednesday was a tough one to take but there’s a lot to look forward to.”