Galatasaray will be tough says Gerrard

STEVEN GERRARD insists Rangers will have to upset the odds against Galatasaray to seal a third successive qualification for the Europa League group stage. The Ibrox side emphatically secured a play-off against the Turkish giants in Glasgow next week by recording a 4-0 victory over Willem II in Holland last night. Goals from James Tavernier, Ryan Kent, Filip Helander and Connor Goldson extended an impressive record that has yet to see Rangers lose a qualifying match under Gerrard’s management. The 40-year-old was delighted by that outcome, but feels they will face their toughest challenge yet when taking on an expensively-assembled Galatasaray line-up. ‘Listen, we will certainly take confidence from tonight and tap into our results from the last couple of years,’ said

Gerrard. ‘But, let’s have it right, Galatasaray are a big club, a massive team and they are certainly coming to Ibrox as favourites, for sure. ‘It is very frustrating, obviously, not to have our full house at Ibrox and that atmosphere behind us that would give us some kind of advantage. ‘But it is going to be a really tough game without that there. ‘The players deserve the opportunity and we will give it everything we have got. ‘We have a tough fixture before that at Motherwell that we need to go and win and then we will certainly look forward to next week. We will enjoy this result here.’ Gerrard gave a special mention to Kent, who continued his excellent early-season form by winning the penalty Tavernier netted. He then scored himself, and crossed for Helander to head in. ‘From an attacking point of view, he was the game-changer for us tonight,’ said Gerrard. The Rangers manager also praised saves by the recalled Allan McGregor. ‘He does incredibly well running in behind and has added that into his game this season,’ said Gerrard. ‘He gets us the penalty for the breakthrough and is just a constant threat. ‘He is so sharp and has added a different dimension to his game, added numbers to his game. ‘He is a pleasure to watch and coach — and we just need to enjoy him. ‘He has the hunger and desire and he is putting in the application to improve his numbers. ‘As a coach and a manager and a group of staff, that is part of his development and we have seen that in him. ‘We noticed it was a part of his game that we needed to work on and we will continue to work on it.’