Rangers number two Kenny McDowall is excited by the prospect of Sunday's league opener against Hearts and expects his players to be up for the challenge.

Rangers were dealt a tough a start to the Scottish Championship season, with visits from Hiberian in the Challenge Cup and Hearts in the league in the space of five days.

However, the assistant manager expects that level of competition to benefit the Rangers squad.

"In many ways it's a good thing because the players know it will be a good, tough game and one they'll need to be up for to go and win," he told the club's official website.

"It's a great game, everyone is excited about it because we've been out of the big time for a while now and the people are excited about the prospect of the new season.

"So we're looking forward to Sunday, it's a great game to start with in the league. We had a tough game the other night against Hibs and the one before that against Derby was excellent, just what we needed."

Rangers will be hoping to return to the top flight of Scottish football after back-to-back promotions.