We Always Want To Test Ourselves

by: Nick Thomson

RANGERS will this week enjoy two fantastic tests at the Trophee Veolia in the French summer sunshine as they prepare for what they hope will be yet another series of matches against Europe’s best in the Europa League.

It’s just over three weeks until the Light Blues travel to face Bayer Leverkusen in the Last 16 of the 2019-20 competition, and following that, the first of hopefully three qualifying matches for next season’s tournament will kick-off on September 17.

That Gers made it to the Last 16 of this season’s tournament and will be giving it their all to overturn a 3-1 deficit to make it to the one-off final tournament is a quite superb achievement that has been enjoyed by supporters, staff and players alike.

One player who got his first taste of group stage and knockout European football last season was Greg Stewart, the attacker featuring against Young Boys and then on that famous Ibrox night against Braga in February.

It’s an experience he looks back on with great fondness, and told RangersTV this week: "They are games you want to be involved in where you can test yourself against other top teams in Europe, and we have shown we are more than capable of matching anyone on our day.

"We still have our game to play [against Leverkusen] and you never know what might happen.

"It was a great experience to play in those games and we have done well in Europe. It's one of those things you watch when you are younger growing up, and to be involved in such a big game [against Braga] when you are 2-0 down, backs against the wall and you turn it around was brilliant.”

To cope with the number of matches played by the Light Blues in the last two seasons, Head of Performance Jordan Milsom has looked after the players’ every need - something Stewart feels has benefited the players enormously.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH JORDAN MILSOM HERE

He continued: "It's huge for us how we prepare and recover because of the amount of games that we face - you're talking 60 games a season, so you need to prepare yourself for that and all the staff do their best to help us in every department.

"They have been top-notch - we aim to be the fittest team in the league so they have been great with that side of things."

Off the pitch, Stewart has been delighted to see Gers doing early business in the transfer window, not least the signing of Ianis Hagi whom he looks forward to battling for a place with.

He explained: "It's great to have Ianis back and we all know the qualities he can bring. For him as well, he is still young and to move to a different country, sometimes you can take a bit of time to settle, but he settled-in well.

"When you are at Rangers, you want to have competition all over the pitch in every position, so it is great to have him, and hopefully we can help him to become even better."