Rangers to start Euro bid on Tuesday

RANGERS will kick off their new season on Tuesday when their Europa League campaign begins against St Joseph’s in Gibraltar. UEFA have yet to officially confirm the date but an Ibrox source last night told

Sportsmail that the first leg will be moved to the Tuesday because Gibraltar side FC Europa, who share the Victoria Park stadium with St Joseph’s, are also in Europa League action next week. FC Europa beat Andorran side Sant Julia 4-0 last night to cruise through 6-3 on

aggregate and will now meet Legia Warsaw at home in next Thursday’s first leg.

Sportsmail understands the Rangers match will kick off at 5.55pm local time — just two days after Steven Gerrard’s men host Oxford United in a pre-season friendly at 3pm on Sunday. The second leg against St Joseph’s will take place at Ibrox at 7.45pm on Thursday, July 18. The winner of St Joseph’s against Rangers will face a second qualifying round tie against either Luxembourg outfit Progres Niederkorn — who infamously knocked the Ibrox side out of the tournament two years ago — or Ireland’s Cork City. In a post on Twitter, Greg Marshall, the Rangers supporter liaison officer, said last night: ‘Just to keep supporters up to date, the club will have to wait until UEFA confirm our fixture before we announce it and unfortunately I do not expect the club to hear confirmation until (Friday).’ Meanwhile, Rangers midfielder Ross McCrorie is set to be loaned out for a season. The 21-year-old is likely to head to either Portsmouth or Shrewsbury Town. McCrorie made 30 appearances for Rangers last season but Gerrard (right), who has added seven new faces to his squad this summer, recently admitted the Scotland Under-21 cap would face limited game-time this season. Speaking during his side’s recent pre-season training camp in Portugal, the Rangers boss said: ‘I’ll have a conversation with Ross as the pre-season goes on. ‘But if he’s expecting to start every single game, that won’t be the case.’