BARRY FERGUSON believes the Ibrox crowd drove his players on as a ten-man Rangers dug deep for a goalless draw against Athletic Club in this evening’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg.
It threatened to be a long night for the Light Blues when Robin Propper was shown a straight red card inside ten minutes for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
However, Ferguson’s side fought valiantly and were grateful to Liam Kelly when the goalkeeper, introduced in place of Jack Butland, thwarted Alex Berenguer from 12 yards deep into the second half.
Speaking to RangersTV after the first leg display, Ferguson commented: “It was a lot more like it and what I expect from my group of players.
“At times, it wasn’t pretty, and it’s difficult when you go down to ten men against a very good team.
“I thought we fought for each other individually and collectively, and I’m sure the fans in the stands appreciated that.
“It was so noisy from minute one right to the very end. They drove the team on.
“They could see the team were getting tired at stages, but they kept with them.
“Since I’ve been through the door, even with some tough results, the fans have always stuck behind us.
“I thought tonight they were immense.”
Spearheaded by the Williams brothers in attack, Rangers limited the Spanish outfit to very little across the 90 minutes plus a heavy dose of additional time.
It was a resilient defensive showing in the face of adversity, underlined by Kelly’s impressive penalty stop when Berenguer looked to strike his penalty down the middle.
Ferguson continued: “I watched [the penalty decision] back and, yes, it did connect with Dujon’s hand, but he wasn’t looking at it.
“But the referee gave the penalty and Liam stepped up with a brilliant save, so I’m delighted for him.
“Conceding soft goals has been an issue, but I thought the defenders put their bodies on the line and that’s what I expect.
“When you get that, you tend to get positive results. But when you have three, four or five who aren’t prepared to do that, then you suffer.
“I need to give the boys credit, especially after playing 80 minutes plus 12 minutes added on, then going down to nine men with Dujon [Sterling] going off.
“It’s half-time in the tie, and I now need to see how everyone recovers now because there’s a few who are really struggling.
“I said to them that that’s what I expect now going forward.”
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