Halliday delighted with Gers high five

ANDY HALLIDAY was pleased to get back into action as Rangers stepped up their preparations for the new campaign this week.

The Light Blues got their first game time of the summer under their belt as they beat Northern Irish side Coleraine 5-0 in a bounce game on Thursday.

Midfielder Halliday reckons it was a worthwhile exercise as the Gers geared up for their opening Europa League qualifying-round tie – the draw for which is made in Nyon on Monday.

“It was a good run-out and I thought the boys did really well in the first half and thankfully we got the tired legs in the second,” he told RangersTV.

“The new boys have settled in really well. It’s been an enjoyable start to pre-season, there’s not been too much running, there has just been an increase in the volume of training sessions. We have been doing double and treble sessions and been in early in the morning but that is part and parcel of pre-season.

“Everyone knows preseason is difficult, but there have been quite a lot of sessions since we came back and I think everyone will agree we just need to get a group of games going.

“We haven’t lost that much fitness, I think that is why we haven’t been doing that much running either. It was a short break but the reason we got that short break was because we got that Europa League spot.

It’s a bonus for the club to get back into Europe for the first-time in five years. Everyone is looking forward to the draw and the first game.

It’s a massive occasion for the club and we have four tough qualifying rounds to go through but that’s why games like Thursday’s are even more important for us.”