Giovanni van Bronckhorst will take a seat at Hampden today and the new Rangers boss will be hoping he has a final to prepare for in December.

"We are always a club who wants to win prizes, and win trophies, I had that as a player, I also have that mentality as a coach," he said in a club interview released this morning.

"You see the team is in a good moment, they have been working very hard to become the team they are now. Winning the title last season has given the team a lot of confidence."

Hibernian head coach Jack Ross tells BBC Sportsound: "It feels very different even arriving at the stadium compared to the four occasions last season. Hugely different.

"It'll be the same on the pitch as well and hopefully that'll be reflected in performance level.

"(The break has been) not ideal. I don't think you want it mid-season. Not ideal to begin with but over the last last seven or eight days we've had full preparation and I feel as though we've used that productively.

"(Rangers are) a team that have played a fairly structured way for a number of seasons now and had success with it."

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Hibs fans may not have had many moments to celebrate at Hampden over the years but this generation of supporters are certainly familiar with the national stadium.

This will be their 10th visit since losing the 2016 League Cup final.

Jack Ross and his team were at Hampden no fewer than four times across the duration of last season.

There was a painful extra-time semi-final loss to Hearts in the delayed 2020 Scottish Cup, followed by a cuffing from St Johnstone in the League Cup semis.

A last four win over Dundee United set up a revenge mission against St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup final, but that did not go well either.

Rangers first team coach David McCallum is the interim manager this afternoon, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst watching from the stand.

He tells Premier Sports: "The focus has been really good, the competitiveness in the group, it's a chance for some to get back in the team.

"Continuity is the key word. We're just making sure we look like a rangers team.

"We've got a really strong squad. We believe in the team we've picked. We know we've got quality on the bench who can come off and make an impact.

"I've spoken to him [Van Bronckhorst] but not about the game. He realised we've worked with the lads all week. He's just encouraged us to be ourselves."

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These two met in early October on league duty at Ibrox, with Kevin Nisbet heading Hibs in front.

However, the visitors then lost Ryan Porteous to a first-half red card and the 10 men were overwhelmed thereafter.

Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos found the net with headers in the second-half.

That was a fourth successive victory for Rangers in this fixture.

Despite Rangers' long wait for success in the cups, the Ibrox club are still way ahead on the rollcall of League Cup victories.

The trophy has gone back to Govan on 27 occasions, with Celtic second on that list with 19.

That 2007 win for Hibs was just the third time they had their hands on this particular silverware.

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Hibernian last won the League Cup in 2007, thumping five goals past Kilmarnock in the final.

They got back to the final in 2016, but suffered last-minute heartache in a 2-1 loss to Ross County.

They made up for that disappointment a few months later at Hampden, but more of that later...

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Rangers steamrolled to their first title in a decade last season but there was frustration in both cups, with quarter-final exits.

Steven Gerrard reached one final in his time at the Ibrox helm, a hugely frustrating 1-0 loss to Celtic in the 2019 edition of this tournament.

The last time Rangers lifted one of the two major cups was back in March 2011 when Nikica Jelavic's extra-time goal sealed a 2-1 success against Celtic, again in this competition.

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Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland at Hampden

Rangers B-team coach David McCallum, part of the first-team set-up today, has come a long way since his days as a driving instructor.

The ex-Queen's Park coach had a good pass rate for his students back then. I should know, my brother was one of them.

He actually gave me my first lesson before going into full-time coaching. Might explain why he gave it up...

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Hollywood actor and Hibs fan Dougray Scott has the rare treat of attending a live match on a visit back to Scotland.

And he told BBC Sportsound: "I watch all the games on Hibs TV - home are away.

"We started off well beginning the season then we sort of disappeared. There's been a lack of intensity. We've had a few injuries. We've been fallible in defence.

"I wouldn't say I'm hugely confident. I always have high expectations for Hibs. That's the tragedy of being a football fan, Rangers have just lost their manager so that maybe makes them vulnerable. I always back Hibs to win."

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David McCallum, Jermain Defoe and Brian Gilmour have taken the Rangers first team since Steven Gerrard’s departure and captain James Tavernier expressed satisfaction with how things have been on the training ground.

"The squad we've got now is one of the strongest I've played with and I've got great belief and confidence in them,” added the defender.

"Training's been really positive and sharp this week. David McCallum, Brian Gilmour and JD have all stepped in to take training and it's been good.

"We know domestically in the cups we've not been there but we want to build on what we achieved last year in winning the league. It's about winning trophies at this club. We want to get to the final."

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Rangers captain James Tavernier will meet his new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst on Monday and says the Dutchman didn't really want to disrupt the team this close to the semi-final”.

“Gio wanted to be respectful and not in any way disrupt things,” said right-back Tavernier yesterday. “I know all the boys and myself are really looking forward to working with him. It's a new chapter for the club.

"We're in an industry where people come and go. It's part of the game. Everything's happened so quick. It doesn't feel like it's more than a week already but that's football.

"In the past managers have been let go but this is a different type of transition because Steven did such a good job that a Premier League club came in for him.

“The new gaffer is taking over a great squad and he'll just be implementing his tactics and the way he wants to play. The foundations are there so I see it being a seamless transition.”

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After that long break without a game, Hibs head coach Jack Ross insists his players are raring to go.

"We were keen to get back into action as quickly as possible following the Celtic defeat," he said earlier this week. "It’s been an enforced break but one we’ve made the best use of.

"There’s a sense of excitement around the group as we approach what is a massive game for us. The break was about resetting, to a degree, looking properly at why we had lost those games and what we need to do moving forward into this run of ten games in just over 40 days."

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Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland at Hampden

You need to remind yourself it's not the late 1990s when you look around the Rangers fanbase at Hampden.

There is plenty of Dutch national team attire on show from the supporters littered across the ground, something new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst will certainly take notice of when he takes his seat.

I'll be expecting to see Arthur Numan and Ronald de Boer come out the tunnel by the time kick-off comes around.

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It's a big day for Josh Campbell. The 21-year-old Hibs midfielder was on loan at Edinburgh City in League 2 last season and hasn't started a league match in the Premiership.

He gets the nod today ahead of experienced colleagues Scott Allan Alex Gogic and Drey Wright.

Coach Jermain Defoe has resisted picking himself. The 39-year-old striker has only featured once as a late substitute this season after all.

Borna Barisic, Glen Kamara, Steve Davis, Scott Arfield and Alfredo Morelos all come in after the most recent 4-2 win over Ross County.

No sign of Kemar Roofe though.

Hibs make two changes from the 3-1 loss to Celtic last time.

Chris Cadden and Josh Campbell start in place of Alex Gogic and Jamie Murphy, who is not in the today's squad.

Christian Doidge has recovered from an Achilles injury sustained in August and takes a place among the substitutes.

Hibs have had their own turmoil to contend with, but it's the lack of activity that could a problem.

A Covid outbreak at the club, combined with the international break, means they haven't played since losing to Celtic on 27 October.

A lot has gone on at the Ibrox club in the last eight days, with Steven Gerrard departing for Aston Villa and Giovanni van Bronckhorst announced as his replacement on Thursday.

However, the Dutchman has not officially started yet and will have a watching brief this afternoon.

Assistant Gary McAllister has followed Gerrard, along with Michael Beale, Tom Culshaw, Jordan Milsom and Scott Mason.

So that leaves Jermain Defoe temporarily leading the team, along with fellow coaches Brian Gilmour, David McCallum and Colin Stewart.

Rangers and Hibernian meet at Hampden for a place in the final of the Scottish League Cup.

Celtic await the winners on 19 December after squeezing out holders St Johnstone yesterday.

Our radio coverage is up and running, so let's get cracking with the team news and build up for the big game.