With Celtic out of the competition the path was considered to be clear for Steven Gerrard’s Rangers, but the Gers suffered a 3-2 loss at St Mirren in their quarter-final tie on Wednesday evening.
Rangers took control of the tie early on when Connor Goldson scored in the seventh minute, but St Mirren were level five minutes before half time from the penalty spot.
The penalty scorer, Jamie McGrath, then grabbed a second for St Mirren in the 53rd minute and it looked as if the Buddies were heading towards victory.
Steven Davis though popped up with a leveller for Rangers two minutes from time, something which seemed to have all but ended St Mirren’s dreams.
However, there was a sting in the tail for the visitors and St Mirren’s Connor McCarthy scored two minutes into stoppage time to knock Rangers out.
Former Gers star Thompson insists Rangers must not let the loss affect their focus.
“The key for Rangers now is to not let this impact their season and get back to what they’ve been doing”, Thompson said on BBC Sportsound.
“That’s where their focus has got to be now.”
Former Scotland boss Craig Levein hailed St Mirren for not allowing Rangers’ late leveller to let their heads go down.
“It can be devastating for the players when you play the Old Firm and they score in the last minute, but it’s a remarkable achievement for St Mirren to keep going and get the winner”, he said.
Rangers are next in action at home against Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
