Style aves oal

He can be star man in the group stages for Parkhead side

Rodgers has been open about his wish to make sure that there is European football after Christmas and McGregor believes that there is credibility to be drawn from a decent display in the Europa League.

“The Europa League is a lot more even in comparison to the Champions League,” said the midfielder. “You just need to look at ours and Rangers’ groups. They are both tough but across the board, you are maybe thinking three out the four teams have a chance.

“That is the way the Europa League is. It’s a good standard and then you have the bigger clubs taking it more seriously as it goes on.

“The calibre of the clubs is high, but you do feel you have more of a chance when you go away – in comparison to some Champions League groups.

“When you play the big-name teams, you need to take a step back sometimes and think, ‘We might need to change our game’.

“With the Europa, you always feel that you can go away and try to win games.

“The boys want to make a mark in this group with the way we play.

“In the Champions League games, you maybe need to defend a bit more.

“But we feel we have enough experience and confidence from the last few years that we can implement our gameplan in the Europa.

“The Europa League isn’t as glamorous as the Champions League but there are top clubs in it.

“When you get through the groups and go into the knockouts, it gets even better.

“It’s a serious competition with big teams and I do think people look at the Europa slightly differently now.”