With promotion secured and preparation for the Premiership already in hand, Rangers manager Mark Warburton was in relaxed and confident mood as he faced the media ahead of the Saturday's Scottish Cup final.

Saying that cup success would be a "bonus" at the end of a season where the Championship title was the one non-negotiable target, Warburton said that the showpiece final at Hampden would be "a great end to what has been a good season".

For the former Brentford manager, who only arrived at Ibrox last summer, it was undoubtedly true. Earlier, though, club captain Lee Wallace made it clear that, for him, the final offered much more than a "bonus".

The left-back, who has been at the club throughout their four-year fight to reach the Premiership, referred to the chance for him to lift his "first Rangers-type silverware" and "top level-recognition", and commented that the lower league titles had been expected of the team.

It was a revealing insight into the belief that "the journey", as the club has called the path to the top flight, wasn't just about progress through the league structure. It was also about competing with the country's best in any competition and had been part of the team's ambition all along, albeit without success.

While adjusting to life in the Third Division, as it was then called, Ally McCoist assembled a squad that was over-equipped for taking three points from part-time sides on a regular basis. The signings of Kevin Kyle, Francisco Sandaza, David Templeton, Dean Shiels, Ian Black, Emerson Cribari and the like meant that the team's real measure would come when they faced big names in knockout competition.

The League Cup brought a 2-0 win over Motherwell but the next round saw Inverness run out as 3-0 victors at Ibrox, tempering expectation. In the Scottish Cup, a defeat at Dundee United by the same scoreline was, like much of the football in recent years, overshadowed by the off-field story as a war of words between the clubs resulted in Rangers declining a ticket allocation for the game.

The following season, McCoist strengthened again with John Daly, Nicky Law, Nicky Clark, Steven Smith and Arnold Peralta joining and this time the Rangers manager was vocal in his ambitions other than promotion.

"This year will be different," McCoist said. "The disappointment would be far greater because we have a better squad than last year.

"I'd hope we are now in the position of the rest of the clubs in the top flight - apart from Celtic.

"Celtic will start as favourites for every competition - and I don't have a problem with that - but I'd like to think we would be in the mix with the other clubs.

"We have the same hopes in those cup competitions as all the top-flight clubs, outwith Celtic."

The position was clear. Cup competitions were where Rangers hoped to provide some dazzle and drama over and above what they hoped would be straightforward progress in the leagues.

Once again there was disappointment. Out of the League Cup early and beaten in the Challenge Cup final, even home advantage in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup wasn't enough as they were beaten 3-1 by Dundee United.

An unbeaten league season put the team another step closer to the top flight but in the Championship McCoist's struggles intensified. Defeat in the Challenge Cup for a third year was embarrassing given resource but by the time of McCoist's departure in December 2014 he had taken the side through the early rounds of both major cups.

Rangers were to go no further though, as Celtic cruised to victory in the League Cup semi-final and Raith Rovers ended Scottish Cup hopes at Ibrox.  That defeat came just days after five Newcastle loanees were imposed on the club, two of whom started the game.

Failing to land the Petrofac Cup added to the disappointment but overshadowing everything was the bruising defeat in the promotion play-off final.

In that context, the change at Ibrox this season is even more marked. Under Warburton, and with a raft of new players, the league title has been delivered and the Petrofac embarrassment has ended. League Cup hopes ended in September but the Scottish Cup run has delivered the extra drama so far.

The win over Celtic cemented belief that Rangers can compete at the top next season but the Scottish Cup now presents a final challenge to land a major trophy while outside the Premiership.

Warburton isn't taking the game lightly, even though his side has shown themselves to be the better of Hibs over the course of the season. A defeat wouldn't just mean missing out on a trophy but would also be a backward step when the semi-final win had brought the "top-level recognition" Wallace talked about, the sense that the team were equipped to compete with anyone, at least in one-off games.

In that respect, the Scottish Cup final takes on significance that goes beyond even the single stand-alone event of lifting the famous silverware. It would be a marker that side is already one of the better-equipped in the country and the European place that comes with the cup would presumably help the club strengthen further.

Since McCoist started gathering players to perform at a level below their station four years ago, Rangers have wanted to make a statement to the wider world. Saturday provides the last chance to strike a blow from outside the top flight and, ironically, comes against a side that finished below them in the league ladder.

Wallace's comment about "Rangers-type silverware" might have carried a little disrespect to the leagues the team has competed in through recent years but he knows that an image of him lifting the cup in the Hampden sunshine would be a declaration of intent ahead of challenges to come.