Gers Will "Give It Everything We've Got"

RANGERS are in Germany ahead of tomorrow’s Europa League, Last 16 tie with Bayer Leverkusen – and boss Steven Gerrard insists the Light Blues will give it “everything we have got.”

Gers were defeated 3-1 in the first-leg at Ibrox on March 12, with the Coronavirus pandemic delaying the playing of the second match until tomorrow night.

Despite the challenge to reach the quarter-final with Inter Milan or Getafe in Dusseldorf on Monday, the manager was upbeat and told this afternoon’s press conference: "It is a game we are looking forward to. Obviously the situation is quite unique having to wait so long to play the second leg.

"We are disappointed with the outcome in-terms of the result from the first leg, so we have a bit of a mountain to climb, but we are over here to give everything we have got and to give it our best shot."

The manager was asked about the fact Gers won’t be backed tomorrow night by what would undoubtedly have been an enormous travelling support here on the banks of the Rhine.

He added: "I would certainly prefer there to be noise and for the stadium to be full. I think as coaches and players, I think everyone prefers to be working in a full stadium, but the reality is, the situation around the world dictates what is going on right now.

"We just need to focus on the game and the challenge in front of us. We know our fans back home will be supporting in their numbers and hopefully we can give them a performance to be proud of.

"We have prepared in pre-season with no fans and we played at the weekend [at Aberdeen] with no fans and up to now, the performances have been really strong, so hopefully we can continue to build on those performances tomorrow.

"We all realise we work for a fantastic club and institution like Rangers - they have supporters all over the world, so it is no surprise that we have thousands of fans living in Germany and hopefully we can give them a result that they want.

"We know it is going to be tough and we know the deficit that we are chasing, but the plan is to try and start the game on the front foot and to try and score the first goal and make it an interesting tie."