One night in Istanbul with Stam will be reprised at Ibrox by Rangers boss Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is relishing the chance to pit his wits against Jaap Stam for the first time since 2005.

The Feyenoord boss was in the AC Milan team that lost the Champions League Final to Liverpool.

It was Gerrard who inspired his side to come back from being 3-0 down at half-time and win on penalties.

Taking on the Dutch outfit in the Europa League group stage at Ibrox on Thursday pleases the Rangers manager for reasons beyond another meeting with Stam.

He was able to recruit Ryan Kent from Liverpool at the start of the international break.

But selling players might have been on his agenda if things had gone badly in Europe, and the club had missed out on the Europa League group bonus.

He said: “We took a bit of risk with the numbers in the squad going through the qualifiers.

“And if Legia Warsaw had gone the other way, I think I’d have been pushing more people out the door.

“I remember the battle with Stam in Istanbul. He was some player.

“He was a centre-back that had the lot. Good in the air, could play on the floor and was very difficult to get past in a one-v-one.

“Thankfully, he switched off against me for one second when I scored!

“But it wasn’t just his fault. I’m sure he’s blaming Nesta as well.

“It’s crazy the way it happens that one minute you’re on a football pitch with them and the next minute you’re arguing with them on the side of a pitch over your own players.

“I’ve never come across Jaap in any social circles since we played.

“I watched his Reading team quite a bit, so I have a good idea how he wants to play.

“Feyenoord are an athletic team, a young team, fresh and full of energy.

“Like any other team, they have a few flaws as well, and we’ll try to exploit that.

“Jaap Stam is not the type of manager who will go back-to-front really early, unless he tries to pull something quite different against us.

“He’s schooled in the typical Dutch way, where they like to dominate the ball and overload you in certain areas.

“Whether he’ll come here to Ibrox and try that will be interesting for us all to see, but he’s definitely someone who likes to play on the floor.”

Stam has fellow Dutchman Dirk Kuyt working with his youth players.

Gerrard said: “He’s a really close friend of mine. We had a fantastic time at Liverpool, and he is the one of the people in the game that you want to stay in touch with.

“When I got the invite to play in his testimonial last year, I couldn’t wait to get there and support him and his family.

“I went to Feyenoord and played in front of a full house in a fantastic stadium.

“And, funny enough, we get them in the draw and I’ll be back there in a short time!”

Talking of famous Dutchmen, former Ibrox boss Dick Advocaat once reflected that a year managing Rangers is twice as stressful as taking charge elsewhere.

It’s a sentiment Gerrard understands.

He said: “This is a fantastic experience for me as a manager, to have two European runs in the first 14 months here.

“A year here probably feels like two everywhere else – and the rest! I understand where Advocaat’s coming from if he said that.

“You realise that when you get to an international break. You get in the car, drive home and drop your shoulders.

“You think: ‘Wow!’.

“From June 15 to September 1 is some slog, whether you’re a player or a coach.

“I don’t stop. Even on a day off, I get emails on who’s available, what we’re doing, fitness numbers. It’s non-stop, round the clock.

“To get away for a few days last week – with no phone and letting my hair down – was perfect to relax, regroup and re-energise.”