Basement battle toughened Ovie for European run
Ovie Ejaria has become something of a European specialist for Rangers.
The on-loan Liverpool midfielder has played more matches in the Europa League than any other competition this season.
He’ll be facing another big night when Spartak Moscow come to Ibrox on Thursday.
A win for the Light Blues would take them within touching distance of the knock-out stages of the tournament.
Often players cite big-game experience helping them to cope with the pressure of crucial cup ties.
But Ejaria believes he benefited from taking part in a relegation dogfight that ended with Sunderland dropping into League One.
He said: “You always want to be winning games, but when I look back at my Sunderland loan spell I think it was a good experience for me.
“Being in a team struggling was tough and it wasn’t something I was really used to.
“When I played games at youth level for Liverpool I was used to winning.
“So going into Sunderland last season was all new to me and I had to try to adapt.
“Mentally, it was tough, but I see it now as a good experience.
“It helped me become stronger and helped me prepare to come to such a big club like this.
“It is nice to be in a different environment here at Rangers, in terms of actually winning games.”
The 20-year-old midfielder admits the chance to play in Europe under Steven Gerrard was a major reason he decided to have a spell in Scottish football.
He went on: “I hadn’t sampled much European football before I came here, and I had only really played youth tournaments when I was younger.
“I had been at games at Anfield watching Liverpool in the Champions League and Europa League in the past.
“I had seen what it was like, but to actually play in it was something else – I love it.
“The atmosphere against Rapid Vienna at Ibrox in the last Europa League game was incredible.
“If we perform as well as we can against Spartak Moscow, then we can get the three points we are looking for on Thursday.”