The Glasgow native began his professional playing career with the Gers, coming right through the youth ranks before making a £125,000 move to St Johnstone in 2001.

He looks back with real fondness on his one top-team appearance for the Light Blues — a game at Cappielow in September 1997, in which he scored a double in Ton goalkeeper David Wylie’s testimonial.

And the 34-year-old admitted he checked up when the clubs would meet in the Championship this term as soon as the fixtures were announced.

But MacDonald insists his lifelong attachment to the Gers actually adds to his motivation to help current club Morton beat them in tomorrow’s huge TV clash.

The striker told the Tele: “I’m really looking forward to it. When I came back to Morton I never thought I’d be playing against the likes of Rangers, Hibs and St Mirren in the one season.

“These are the games you look forward to no matter what stage of your career you’re at, and I’m a couple of years away from being at the end.

“I actually started out at Rangers as a player but didn’t make a first-team appearance. The only game I did play in was Davie Wylie’s testimonial at Cappielow.

“It was a first-team squad game, and I was 16-years-old. I played 45 minutes and scored two goals — but I don’t have any pictures of it.

“So if there is anyone out there — a photographer who was at the game maybe — who has any pictures or any newspaper reports of the game, it would be great if they could get in touch.” He went on: “I was a Rangers fan growing up as a kid and that makes it special playing against them, of course it does.

“You’re playing against the team you supported as a boy, who your father supported as a boy, who his father supported as a boy...

“It’s been passed on through the generations.

“My full family is Rangers mad — but there will be no thoughts about that on Sunday.

“I grew up a Rangers fan but they don’t pay my wages and I’ll be going out to cause an upset if selected.

“I think growing up supporting them actually makes you want to beat them more in a way. I want to win every game for Morton, no matter who it’s against, and Rangers are no different!” The Cappielow captain expects his former club to wrap up the Championship by January or February at the very latest and refused to make any big predictions about what Ton will do tomorrow.

However, he does believe their midweek cup victory over Premiership Motherwell has shown what they are capable of.

He added: “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.

“Rangers are cruising this league — they will cruise it — and they’ll win it by January or February in my view. Definitely.

“But we can cause upsets. Nobody thought we would go and beat Motherwell on Tuesday night, and there’s Rangers lost to St Johnstone.

“So it just shows you. If we set our stall our out and work hard, you never know. We’ve got to compete first and foremost and see how things go from there.

“We feel capable of causing any team problems, no matter who it is: Rangers, Motherwell or whoever.

“We’re at home, [so] three points would be nice, a point would be nice, but as long as we show that we can compete then I think the gaffer will be happy with that.”