LEE McCULLOCH says he is certain that the backlog of fixtures won't wreck Rangers' dream of winning honours this season.

Walter Smith's side face a hectic run of games over the coming months that could now force them to play two matches a week for the foreseeable future.

Yesterday's Scottish Cup clash with East Stirling was cancelled after the rain deemed Ibrox unplayable and that game now goes ahead on Wednesday, January 23 - forcing the SPL to now try and find another date for the Old Firm clash originally postponed from Jan 2.

Last week's away match with St Mirren at Love Street - also cancelled because of a waterlogged pitch - has also still to be scheduled meaning the Ibrox club face a fixtures crisis which will test their mettle.

With the Gers still very much in contention for all three domestic trophies, and also involved in the Uefa Cup knockout stage, there now must be a serious danger of players suffering from fatigue and burnout.

But McCulloch believes there is enough strength and depth within the current Rangers squad to cope with the demands.

He said: "It's certainly not ideal that our last two games have been postponed. You don't want to have a massive amount of games to try and squeeze into a short period of time, but there isn't really much we can do about it.

"It looks as though we'll be playing most midweeks for the next month or two, but you just have to get on with it.

"I certainly don't feel it will cost us points and it's up to the players to make sure that's not the case.

He added: "The manager has a large group of players to call upon. We have a big squad and there are a lot of guys sitting on the sidelines who are all keen to get involved and the manager has always maintained he'll need everyone at some stage.

"So we'll just keep doing our best and hopefully we'll continue to win games and challenge on all fronts in the second half of the season."

Lee says the players would rather be playing midweek fixtures than training.

Captain Barry Ferguson and several of the Ibrox top-team stars have said the same so it does not look as though the players are overly concerned with the situation.

McCulloch continued: "If you ask any player whether they would rather be playing games or training, most would say they'd rather have games.

"Training is good fun and obviously there is a need for it over the course of a season, but if you are playing games during the week then you are basically preparing for a match and then resting afterwards and trying to recover for the next game.

"That's the way it's going to be in the comings weeks and months."

McCulloch believes Rangers performed better than expected during the first half of the season but he admits the next few months will prove if they are good enough to win trophies.

He said: "Rangers should be winning things every season. Having failed to win anything the last couple of years, there is a greater determination to change that and be successful this season.

"We've made a good start but we still haven't won anything. We are top of the league which is great, it shows we have been competing this season and we are also still in the two cup competitions, so we've got a lot to aim for. And there is also the Uefa Cup.

"Only time will tell if we will win things but the belief and determination is there."