NO TICKET? STAY AWAY
Rapid Vienna, especially in the second half, was as good as we’ve played.
“So you’ve seen the best of us and also the worst. If we give our worst we’ve no given right to turn up anywhere and get three points.
“But at our best we know we’re a very hard team to beat. The European games have given us belief, only losing one in 13.
“We were the underdogs in this group. But we have gone into every game believing we can get a result. We have to take another big step forward now.”
As well as getting flak from their own boss Rangers players have also been criticised by former Celtic and Scotland boss Gordon Strachan.
He questioned whether some of Gerrard’s men have the character to perform under pressure at Ibrox.
After growing up in Copland Road, Halliday knows exactly what’s required.
And he believes team-mates who haven’t grown up in Glasgow are now fully aware of how important success is to a club such as Rangers.
Halliday added: “If you’re a player who doesn’t realise how big the club is or what it means – you pick it up pretty quickly. Games like this against Rapid show how big it is when 10,000 fans are travelling to Austria.
“I certainly believe we’ve got a mentality in the group to handle playing for this club.
“Our first major blip was being knocked out of the League Cup by Aberdeen.
“But after that we went on a great run of wins. So I’m convinced that we can do that again.” RAPID VIENNA chiefs have told Rangers supporters to stay away from the Allianz Stadium if they do not have tickets for tonight’s vital Europa League clash.
The Ibrox club have been given an official allocation of 2500 seats as they go in search of the victory that will see them through to the last 32.
More than 10,000 fans have reportedly made the journey to the Austrian capital, leaving local authorities worried some may try to source briefs for the home end.
But there was chaos closer to home last night after a group of disruptive Gers fans were chucked off their flight – with the plane to Munich delayed for more than three hours at Glasgow Airport while Lufthansa staff dealt with the situation.
It had been due to leave at 3.20pm but didn’t get off the ground until after 6.30pm – meaning other fans missed their connecting flight from Germany to Vienna.
An airport spokesperson said: “We can confirm a small number of individuals were offloaded from a flight to Munich due to an incident.”
Rapid only need a point to clinch their own progress from Group G and club bosses have announced they have sold out its 23,850 capacity for the first time since it opened in 2016.
The club’s service chief Andreas Marek confirmed a small number of tickets may be available on secondary ticketing sites.
However, he warned members of Light Blues faithful who don’t have their hands on an official ticket to give the Allianz a wide berth.
Marek said: “The game is completely sold out. It’s unbelievable how much demand there was for tickets.
“We’re happy about this and looking forward to the game but we must make it clear there won’t be any people about the stadium selling tickets before the match.
“This is very important. This is not like other places where there is a black market for tickets. A real Rapid fan won’t sell his ticket to a Scottish fan.
“So the Rangers fans shouldn’t come without a ticket because there won’t be any available at the stadium.”
Rapid bosses have also held security meetings with their Gers counterparts and Marek says he is confident the club’s security plan can handle the influx of fans from Glasgow.
He said: “We have a plan set up for tomorrow. We’ve heard numbers between 2000 with tickets and 12,000 without.
“We don’t really know but we were talking yesterday with the officials from Rangers and they were telling us it won’t be such a big crowd.
“There will be some who do come to the stadium so we have prepared everything.
“It’s always positive when a stadium is full but we know the situation.”
ANDY HALLIDAY