Rangers need only to look to the very recent past to draw inspiration for qualification in the Champions League against Union Saint-Gilloise tonight.
First of all, doubt and feat must be overcome if things are to go the right way. The players have to respond to their farcical performance last week which created this uphill task and the job has to be seen through, there can be no repeat of Malmo last season in similar circumstances when a very good situation and a one man advantage was spurned, with Antonio Colak playing a big part.
Another double tonight would be just fine, big man.
Is this a different Rangers team now? Not entirely, in essence it is still the same side. Tavernier, Lundstram, Kent, Morelos and the rest will likely still be pivotal figures but they have to be assisted by the new crop, the likes of Lawrence, Tillman, Matondo and more.
Welcome to Ibrox, here is the pressure and the expectation. Go, succeed and enjoy the adulation.
Good luck Rangers! Sorry I won't be here tonight but I'll still be bouncing and cheering. See you next round! #Rangers #championsleague pic.twitter.com/B5Jiw9O5ao
— Alan Denniston (@mister_denny1) August 9, 2022
Form
The inspiration for qualification tonight against USG can be drawn from the strong home form of the run to Seville last season, emboldened by the raucous Ibrox atmosphere. Fast starts, fizz, verve. You get the jist. That is the template to be followed, once again.
Six of the best in the fine Euro campaign that was 21/22:
Rangers 2-0 Brondby
Rangers 2-0 Sparta Prague
Rangers 2-2 Dortmund
Rangers 3-0 Red Star
Rangers 3-1 Braga
Rangers 3-1 Leipzig
Think of those dark nights in the knock-out rounds which resulted in light and hope of another European final. Momentum and opportunity was fully seized.
The difference now compared to the likes of Dortmund and RBL is that Rangers are not the underdogs and have to produce, accordingly.
Ibrox, our home and a recent fortress in the European arena, can once again provide the backdrop for more.