Michael Beale insists Allan McGregor is still the best keeper in Scotland after he helped Rangers into the Viaplay Cup final.
The 40-year-old was recalled to the starting line-up for Sunday's semi-final with Aberdeen after missing the win over Dundee United the previous weekend.
He made a string of important saves to clinch a hard-fought victory as goals from Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe proved enough to overcome the Dons after a Bojan Miovski opener.
McGregor will now return to Hampden - the scene of what looked like his farewell appearance in May - as Beale's side face Celtic for the first silverware of the season.
And the Englishman believes his custodian still leads the way in the Premiership as well as at Ibrox as he fends off competition from Jon McLaughlin and Robby McCrorie for the gloves.
Beale said: "Allan McGregor is the best goalie in Scotland.
"Me and Allan have got an unbelievable trust, built up over a long period of time. He knows that every now and then, I'm going to say to him, 'okay Al, rest up this one and play this one'.
"But the majority of the time he'll play. In my opinion he is the number one goalkeeper in Scotland and I think we are not far off from having that with the other couple that we have in the building.
"I get 'Allan McGregor, you leave him out', but he's completely up to speed with everything that is going on. He's a really mature man.
"He thinks about the whole club, the whole team, not just himself, and that's why he's been such a top professional.
"I thought he showed it again on Sunday. He was a little bit angry he had to do a little bit more than what he would like to have done.
"He's our No 1, but Jon and Robby are two excellent goalkeepers. He'll be a miss, you know, I'll rotate the outfield players, I'll rotate the team. I know there's a lot written about, 'you have to have your No 1'.
"I think that's a bit old fashioned. The way modern game's going, at different times you look at people and you think they might need a little break and someone else to come back in.
"That's what I'm paid to do and if I get the majority of those decisions right, I'll stay in a job and if I don't, I won't. I'm a big boy."
