Lovenkrands feels Progres is being made

IF THE prize itself wasn’t enticing enough for Rangers, their route to the Europa League group stage now contains a potential opportunity to exorcise the ghost of Progres Niederkorn.

Victory over Maribor in the third qualifying round — with the first leg of that tie at Ibrox on Thursday night — would see Steven Gerrard’s side face either Progres or Russian side Ufa in the play-off round.

The very name of the Luxembourg outfit causes traumatic flashbacks to anyone of a Light Blue persuasion given the humiliating defeat suffered under Pedro Caixinha’s command last July.

Former Rangers striker Peter Lovenkrands is confident, however, that Gerrard has his squad very much moving in the right direction this time around.

Victories over FK Shkupi and Osijek have already been secured as the new Ibrox boss seeks to restore the club’s continental reputation.

A veteran of Champions League nights during his playing days, Lovenkrands said: ‘It would be good to get a bit of revenge on Niederkorn, but I don’t really care if it’s them or not.

‘We need to focus on the games with Maribor first and then see what happens after that.

‘I think the team has been decent in all the games so far — they have started really well this season.

‘The manager has done a great job so far in getting the boys ready and, in Europe, they have played some great football.

‘It is so hard these days with four rounds to get through to the group phase. When I was playing, there were hardly any qualifiers and sometimes you went straight into it.

‘You just need to deal with it and keep pushing. Europe is where Rangers should be and I’m really hoping they can get through.

‘It would be a fantastic boost for the club to get into the group phase. The atmosphere at the games so far has been great and it would only get better.

‘I remember it from my days. These big European nights are fantastic, so it would be great if the club could qualify.’

Rangers are poised to lift their total of summer signings to 12 this week by adding Croatian left-back Borna Barisic in a £2million deal and loaning young centre-back Jack Simpson from Bournemouth.

Lovenkrands has been impressed by how quickly Gerrard has formed a team unit, with the organisation evident in Sunday’s ten-man draw against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

‘The players have looked great,’ said the Dane, now a youth coach at Rangers. ‘Against Aberdeen, they looked strong with 10 men.

‘They looked the more dangerous team and looked like they were going to score again. I didn’t think Aberdeen threatened at all, really.

‘The players who have come in have done a great job — and there is still a lot more to come.

‘So it’s still early days but, so far, I think the manager has done really well to gel the boys together. The club is moving forward again.’