STEVEN Gerrard is determined to write a new chapter in Rangers’ European history.
His target is to take the club into the group stage of the Europa League.
The new Ibrox manager’s first competitive match is against FK Shkupi of Macedonia at home on Thursday night.
Everyone at the club is still smarting from last season’s dismal failure against Progres Niederkorn.
Gerrard, however, won’t allow that embarrassment at the hands of the Luxembourg part-timers to enter his thoughts as he plots a route to the lucrative group stage.
“It’s going to be tough, of course it is. I am not going to deny that,” he said.
“It will be a very tough task, but that’s what we’re here for. I knew that coming in.
“I knew all our targets. Everything we’re trying to achieve will be tough, tricky and difficult.
“But there is no point in me talking about that to the players because you have to deal with the first one first.
“It is about the game on Thursday. We will deal with that, and then we move on to the second leg on Tuesday.
“That is all we can focus on.”
Gerrard knows little about last season’s games against Niederkorn, but plenty about European football, having captained Liverpool to a famous Champions League Final win over AC Milan in 2005.
He said: “I haven’t watched the two games from last season.
“With all due respect, I’m not really interested in those two games. They’re nothing to do with me.
“They were played under the previous manager.
“But If you don’t approach games in European competition with the right attitude and mentality, you can face major problems.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the first qualifying round or it’s the semi-final. If you don’t approach it right, you’re in trouble.”
A decent win against the Macedonians on Thursday would ease a lot of tension around Ibrox.
The Light Blues really don’t want to travel with the outcome of the tie hanging in the balance.
Gerrard went on: “I don’t think we can worry about the second leg. We worry about Thursday night.
“We have to make sure we bring a performance that is capable of coming away with a win.
“I don’t want to put a scoreline on it, or an expectation, because there is enough expectation on the players.
“It is my job to take that away from them.
“I just need to make sure that the players are ready, focused, don’t disrespect any opposition and come in with the right mentality.
“I am confident if we come in with the right mentality, focus and concentration, we will be okay.”
Although little is known about the opposition, Gerrard and his coaching team will spend the next few days looking at all the available information.
He said: “I don’t know what the gulf from Bury, who we played on Friday night, to the team we’re playing on Thursday will be.
“It is difficult to judge. That’s where it can become tricky.
“They are unknown in terms of what type of club we are going to be playing against.
“But by Thursday the players, will have watched their strengths and weaknesses a lot. We’ll have scouting reports and will do every bit of due diligence.
“We will make sure that players have no excuses.”
After getting a crowd of more than 40,000 for the friendly against Bury, another bumper crowd is expected on Thursday.
Although Gerrard still has lots of work to do, he isn’t trying to dampen down expectations.
He said: “These fans want better – and they deserve better.
“This is the most successful club out there, so it is a difficult thing to do to ask for patience.
“Players have to be ready for the pressure and the responsibility of being a Rangers player.
“If you can’t handle it, you are in the wrong place.”
n MURPHY WANTS THE RETURN OF FORTRESS IBROX – See Pages 10 & 11
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