Van Bronckhorst takes heart

GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST reckons Rangers’ draw with Group A winners Lyon was another sign of the progress the champions are making under his guidance.

The Dutchman extended his unbeaten run as manager to five matches as a Calvin Bassey own goal cancelled out Scott Wright’s opener and ultimately denied his side victory on the road.

Rangers now return to domestic duty when they face Hearts this weekend and continue a key run of fixtures that will shape their Premiership aspirations this term.

And Van Bronckhorst is encouraged by the way the Govan side are adapting to his new methods after a promising performance denied their Ligue 1 hosts a clean sweep in the group.

Van Bronckhorst said: “We are flying straight back to Scotland now to prepare for the game. We are used to it.

“We will do everything we can in terms of recovery then on Saturday we will also prepare tactically for

Hearts, which is of course a tough game for us away.

“But I’m confident about my team and the performance we had today. Just now it’s a case to rest really well and prepare for Sunday.

“We were very happy with the performance, especially away from home in Europe where it can be really tough.

“Today, of course we faced a tough opponent, but I felt we were very brave. When we had ball possession, we liked to play our possession game from the back and many times we had the right solutions.

“Overall, I’m really happy with the performance. I think in the second half we didn’t create so many chances.

“Also Lyon had some chances but I am very happy with the message we showed as a team. We came here not to defend, we came here to play our game and develop our team because this is only my fifth game in charge with this team.”