Hamilton or De Kuip, Jack knows the score
Rangers can leap into the last 32 of the Europa League if they beat Feyenoord in Rotterdam on Thursday night.
Victory would end Dick Advocaat’s hopes of slowing his old club’s progress in the competition.
It would be another significant milestone in the Ibrox revival that’s being masterminded by Steven Gerrard.
His success goes hand- in- hand with the strides being taken by his players.
Midfielder Ryan Jack seems to have taken his game to a different level under the former England captain.
He has also emerged as a key player for Scotland, after taking part in last week’s victories over Cyprus and Kazakhstan.
The Europa League campaign, he believes, has helped attune him for the rigours of international football.
But he warns that – just like playing for Scotland – there will be no comfort zone in the De Kuip.
He said: “It definitely does help because you’re getting positive results against players from Porto, Feyenoord and Young Boys, who are all playing at international level.
“If you can hold your own against them and get good results, that helps your confidence when you come to play international football for Scotland.
“It’s probably the same sort of level, the same sort of feeling.
“As soon as you put that jersey on, there’s that expectation that you have to stand up and find an answer.
“It’s going to be tough against Feyenoord.
“In the home game, at 1- 0 we had chances to kill the game off, but didn’t.
“These players are international level, so if you switch off for a second, they can punish you.
Jack was only six years old when Dick Advocaat arrived in Glasgow to boss Rangers.
That means his memories of European nights involving the “The Little General” are few.
But he maintains the attitude coming out of the stands is the same.
He went on: “Back then, Rangers were successful. They had a great squad, a great group of players and nowadays that same expectation is there from the fans for us to go and compete and win trophies.
“As players, we’ve got to be driven by that and, hopefully, this is the year we can win something.
“When you’re at a club like Rangers, you know that’s the demand before you sign up for it.
“The expectation has always been there. This year we’ve got a great coaching staff along with a great group of players, so that maybe rises a wee bit more.”
Jack’s team- mate Sheyi Ojo scored the goal that gave Rangers the 1- 0 win over Feyenoord in September.
That strike is the on- loan Liverpool winger’s highlight of the season so far.
He said: “That was one of the best team performances we have had, and we are looking to emulate that on Thursday.
“We’ll look to be as aggressive as we can – with and without the ball.
“We did that in the home game and that’s why we dominated so much.
“Feyenoord are a top team, so we are going to have to match that and probably play even better to get a good result.
“It will be a different type of game over there. But we should be able to hurt them and, hopefully, we will be clinical enough.”
A challenge for Ojo has been coping with the different demands of European and domestic football.
It’s not always easy for Old Firm widemen to find space in Scotland.
Teams sit back so much – particularly at Ibrox and Parkhead – that it’s the smallest of gaps between defenders and goalkeeper.
So if he’s involved against Hamilton Accies today, he knows what to expect
Ojo said: “Playing in the Europa League is a lot more tactical.
“It’s back and forth, whereas in the Scottish league it’s predominantly us who have the ball and need to break teams down.
“I have to adapt my game depending on the style of game. You just try to affect the game as much as you can.
“We have been working on that in training, how to beat low blocks.
“In the Europa League we look at counter- attack and lots of different ways to hurt teams.”
Ryan Kent came on loan from Liverpool last season and enjoyed it so much that he made permanent move to Rangers.
Ojo isn’t sure what his career path will be, despite signing a new five- year deal with Liverpool in the summer.
He added: “I haven’t really thought about it. Even Liverpool, I’ve not really thought about that either.
“The most important thing is trying to perform for Rangers this season.
“Rangers is a massive club, with great fans and great players, so you never know what could happen in the future.”