Rangers go into the game off the back of a 3-1 aggregate victory over Panathinaikos in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and the midfielder is confident the squad have recovered well and are raring to go against Motherwell.
Speaking to the media at this afternoon’s pre-match press conference, he said: “Getting the result we wanted obviously helps and we have had a couple of days to recover now, and we are raring to go.
“It is a bit strange playing European games before the league season has even started but it has been good. It gives us a chance to go out there and put the things we have been working on into practice. It becomes real because obviously those are games you need to win and thankfully we managed to do that over the two legs but now our focus is fully on tomorrow.”
When asked if head coach Russell Martin had emphasised the importance of a strong start in the league, Rothwell continued: “He doesn’t have to emphasise it. We know as players it is going to be massive and obviously getting off to a winning start is what we want to do.
“It is going to be a fast and erratic start to the games, and it is down to us to take control and build some momentum as quickly as we can.
“Everyone is going to want to beat us, so we want to go out there and put on a real show but ultimately it is a result-based business, and we are going there to win the game.”
Rothwell joined the club in the summer from AFC Bournemouth, having spent last season on loan at Leeds United. With back-to-back promotions, the 30-year-old brings vital experience which he hopes can help the team this campaign.
On how he is finding life at Rangers he said: “They are both massive clubs so it is quite similar, but obviously the European games are different to playing in the Championship so I think that would probably be the difference but I think that experience was part of the reason the manager was wanting to get me in here as well.
“Of course, we want to go and win the league, but we are not going to get ahead of ourselves and as I say we need a positive start tomorrow and that is where our full focus will be.
“It gives us the momentum and winning breeds confidence so tomorrow is going to be massive for us. We want to go out there and put on a show but ultimately it is about results and hopefully we can go out there and get those three points.”