Beale: Team Must Rise To The Challenge

MICHAEL BEALE was thrilled with the level Rangers found in their matches with Brighton and Real Madrid at the weekend and insisted they must rise to the challenge again when the Scottish Premiership begins on Saturday.

The Champions begin their hunt for another title when Livingston come to town, with Gers going into that match off the back of two impressive performances against their Premier League and La Liga opponents, with the latter particularly catching the eye as the Light Blues ran out 2-1 winners.

Speaking to RangersTV, with your club channel continuing to bring you exclusive insight from the Rangers Training Centre, Beale explained: "After the Arsenal game, there were some things we felt we needed to find in-terms of intensity and urgency and energy on the pitch.

"I thought we showed that against Brighton for large spells, and then with a completely different team on Sunday starting, we found that again, maybe 10 per-cent more.

"They are three very, very good teams. If you look financially how much the players are worth in both teams, you are talking about top, top players.

"Those players don't give the ball away too easily if you harass them and you press them, and also, they are very, very good at closing your space down when you have got possession.

"So, you have to be at your level and I think we have shown in the last week we are in a pleasing place, albeit, the league hasn't started and it starts Saturday, so that is the moment we really need to show it."

Rangers earned three wins and a draw with Livi last season, and every single one of them proved to be a thorough examination for Beale and the players.

He continued: "They always give you a really, really tough game. They are extremely honest and the manager gets them fired-up. He is very enthusiastic and you see that in his team.

"They are a very, very difficult team to play against and I remember going back to the first season, they have always been difficult and we have never had an easy game against Livingston and we don't expect anything different.

"They have got their hopes, dreams and aspirations for the season and they have had the same or even a little bit more time than us to prepare and have been playing competitive games as well in the League Cup.

"So it will be a stern test and until the season is up and running, the first weekend can sometimes throw up some strange results and we have got to make sure that is not the case for us and we are strong and put in a performance that gives us confidence for the coming weeks."