Todd Cantwell expects Partick Thistle to treat Sunday’s Scottish Cup tie against Rangers at Ibrox as the “game of their lives.”
The holders go into the fifth-round encounter as overwhelming favourites against the Jags, who sit fourth in the cinch Championship.
Cantwell is a new face in Govan, having signed from Norwich during the January transfer window, but he knows the universal attitude of football’s underdogs when they have the chance of a cup shock.
The 24-year-old midfielder said: “Every competition we are involved in is as equally important. That’s certainly the message I have received.
“This is obviously going to be a tough game at the weekend.
“It is the same whatever league you play in, if a team from a lower division comes up to have a game, it is a game of their lives almost.
“They will give it absolutely everything and so we have to be ready for that. We have full focus on the game at the weekend.”
Rangers have won all three games that Cantwell has been involved in since he arrived at Ibrox and he was immediately taken by the “winning attitude” in Michael Beale’s squad as he looks to build on his early experiences.
The former England Under-21 player said: “The one thing that I haven’t questioned since I got here is the drive. It is apparent around the changing room and in training.
“The winning mentality is brilliant because then you don’t have to talk and try to get it out of each other, it is already there.
“It is almost embedded in some of the senior boys here so I think they are spreading that around and it is becoming a bit of a lesson for everyone that this is how it is here.
“I am really enjoying myself so far. The manager has a style that he wants to play, the players all understand our roles and with time it will only get better.
“I’ll start to make movements that people want me to make. It is not all about me, I will feed off the energy of the other boys, where they want it and what their qualities are.
“I am pretty happy with my start. I’m just looking to kick on now and build on the relationships with the team.”
