KIRK BROADFOOT will never forget the moment he walked up the staircase at Hampden to lift his first trophy as a Rangers player.

Now the defender wants to book an immediate return to the National Stadium by helping Walter Smith's side progress through to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Broadfoot still hasn't come back down to earth since playing an important role in his side's penalty kicks win over Dundee United to secure the CIS League Cup. But he knows the party hats will have to be ditched tomorrow night.

Standing between them and another Hampden showdown are Partick Thistle, who come to Ibrox aiming to pull off one of the biggest shocks by preventing the SPL leaders from moving just another victory away from their second final this season.

And Broadfoot said: "Winning the League Cup was unbelievable - it really did mean everything to me. Walking up the steps, taking my turn at lifting up the trophy was a fantastic feeling and now I have a winner's medal and there is no better feeling in football than that. Celebrating in front of the fans was also brilliant.

"You could see how much it meant to them as it has been a while since they've had something to shout about.

"When you reach finals it provides the fans with an excellent day out and I'm sure they always look forward to going along to Hampden.

"As a player, it is an excellent experience. The build-up is great and hopefully we can now get there again by going all the way in the Scottish Cup.

"The way things are this season, there are so many games coming thick and fast and you never really have time to celebrate too much.

"We enjoyed a great result by reaching the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup last week by knocking out Werder Bremen, but we knew we had the CIS League Cup Final against Dundee United just a few days later to start preparing for.

"And it's been the same this week. We enjoyed a nice evening on Sunday to toast our success, but we have a game tomorrow night against Partick Thistle and we have now preparing for that and being as professional as ever in our approach.

"They'll come to Ibrox and set their stall out to try and frustrate us and defend, which they are perfectly entitled to do.

"It's up to us to break them down and make sure we perform well enough on the night to reach the next round.

"You can't really afford to look back at this moment as there are too many important matches coming up in such a short period of time.

"You just get one game out of the way and focus on the next and that's why we've managed to challenge on all four fronts this season."

For Broadfoot, Sunday's CIS League Cup Final should just be the first instalment of success for Rangers this season.

The SPL title is his main objective, and he believes that is the trophy Rangers crave more than any other. But he says his team-mates have the ability and temperament to bring more to the Ibrox trophy room.

He added: "We showed at the weekend how much we want to be winners. We were behind in the game twice but stuck at it, kept going and you need that attitude and determination to win things.

"And we are going to have to show that hunger in all our games between now and the end of the season. Of course, the league is the big one. We have a slight advantage over Celtic, but we know the Old Firm matches are going to be crucial.

"But so are the other games. We don't want to drop points to other teams and put ourselves under pressure."

Broadfoot knows Rangers have Kris Boyd to thanks for winning them the trophy and he admits it just goes to prove you need a big squad to be successful.

He said: "We made it hard for ourselves against Dundee United but when Kris is playing, we have a chance if we get the ball into the opponent's penalty area.

"He hasn't started every week, but you need players to come off the bench and do a job and that's why you require a big squad.

"I found myself out the team for long spells this season, but you just have to keep waiting and hopefully take your chance when it comes up. Kris has come on and shown just how good a goalscorer he is and we were all delighted for him."