STEVEN GERRARD is confident Rangers are ready for their Europa League campaign after stepping up their pre-season preparations with a 6-0 win over Bury at Ibrox.
The 38-year-old marked his debut as Light Blues boss in style as Scott Arfield netted twice and Jamie Murphy, Nikola Katic, Alfredo Morelos and Zak Rudden also found the target.
Rangers will now turn their attentions to the first qualifying round clash with FK Shkupi on Thursday night as they look to take a lead into the second leg in Macedonia.
Gerrard said: “There are still a few bits and bobs where people are a couple of yards out, or where only eight or nine players are on the same wavelength. If that happens, people can get through it.
“For the first goal, in terms of asking the players to go longer than 45 minutes, I’m delighted with the signs I’ve seen.
“We’ve had to put our way of play across to the players off the pitch in terms of team meetings and then going out and delivering it. That’s difficult to do every single day, because they still have to run and get their fitness in.
“They took a lot of information on board in a short time and are having a right go at it, so I can’t ask for any more.
“We are ready for the challenge. The expectation and pressure is going to be completely different from tonight.
“Yeah, there were 40,000 here, so there was a slight bit of pressure, especially for the new players getting judged for the first time.
“After what happened last year, then of course we know there is going to be a lot more pressure and eyes on us next Thursday.
“But I’m confident that come kick-off the players will be ready to go.”
Gerrard handed debuts to several of his summer signings at Ibrox as a bumper home crowd saw the Gers in action for the first time this term.
He remains in the market for reinforcements to add further strength and depth to his Light Blues ranks and a move for Roma striker Umar Sadiq is still in the pipeline.
Gerrard said: “Nothing fresh at the moment. He is still a Roma player.
“But it’s been well documented I’m a fan of the player. I think it’s just a case of ‘watch this space’.”
James Tavernier was handed the armband for the friendly fixture and will continue as captain for the new season as doubts remain over Lee Wallace’s Ibrox future.
Keeper Allan McGregor started between the sticks following his return to Rangers this summer but a decision has yet to be made over the first-choice shot-stopper as the Scotland international battles it out with Wes Foderingham and Jak Alnwick for the gloves.
Gerrard said: “I don’t have a number one, two or three. I have three excellent goalkeepers with decent experience. Allan obviously has the most.
“I also thought it was important to get young Robby McCrorie a feel of the atmosphere tonight because he has a bright future.
“I have three fantastic goalkeepers but somewhere down the line one of them isn’t going to be happy. There’s nothing I can do about that. At some point, one of them won’t be around because three top goalies don’t go into one position.
“Unfortunately I’m going to have to make a difficult decision.”
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