AT first James Tavernier thought it must have been some ungodly queue at passport control. And that is pretty much the last thing you need when it is 1.30am on Friday morning, you have just flown back from Russia and have to lift yourself for the biggest match of your season in not much more than 48 hours’ time.

But no, rather than any nightmarish premonition of post-Brexit immigration controls, Rangers and their captain - subject to a late, rejected loan bid from West Bromwich Albion yesterday - returned to a bona fide reception committee at Glasgow Airport.

Estimates of how many of their travelling fans opted to wait around to welcome the team back into the country vary, but it was understandable if they were a trifle jubilant considering the journey the club has been on since that humbling reverse to Progres Niederkorn 12 months ago.

You didn’t have to look too hard for the symbolism. Garlanded by the fans on Thursday night, the last manager to take Rangers into European competition ended up arguing with his reception committee of supporters from a bush somewhere in Luxembourg.

No matter how rowdy, though, the throng which had waited around to welcome Steven Gerrard back into the country after that sterling backs-to-the-wall effort against Ufa which took the club back to the Europa League group stages, Tavernier knows all this would be small beer compared to the scenes which meet accompany at first Rangers win at Celtic Park since October 2010.

“I didn’t expect the reception we got at all,” said Tavernier. “I thought it was the queue going to the passport control, not people waiting. But it was great to see what it meant to the fans and a win at Parkhead would mean the world to them too. That is what we will aim to do.”

“That was a nice surprise for us,” admitted Gerrard. “We never got told. We got off the plane and saw it on a TV and I thought ‘oh there’s about 50, 60 fans there’ then we got our card marked that it was a couple of thousand more. It was a nice surprise for the players, they’d obviously put a lot of effort into the game and the night and then they had a long flight so it was great for them to get the adulation from the supporters. It was well deserved.”

Only three Scottish teams have ever made it all the way through to the group stages from the qualifying rounds – only four of the 96 who started in the first round are still standing – and Rangers’ reward is a glamorous continental tour which will take them to the homes of Villarreal, Spartak Moscow and Rapid Vienna. Gerrard, who always wanted a draw with a bit of box office, feels that this selection fits the bill.

“Thinking about it before the draw I was hoping the players would be drawn against teams with a name and stature where they could go and rub shoulders with top players, play in nice stadiums and really enjoy the experience,” said Gerrard. “Having said that we want to go and compete, this is not just about getting Europa League experience. It’s fantastic for the supporters, the locations they will be able to travel to support the team. We couldn’t have asked for a better draw, three established teams with a lot of experience. We are delighted.”

For all the morale-boosting pats on the back, Rangers’ preparation for tomorrow’s Old Firm match are hardly ideal, especially as a stamina-sapping and desperate rearguard action which was required from just nine men.

“Thursday was tough for the boys, playing with nine men by the end,” he said. “For the last period, it was just two banks of four and we had to dig deep. But we stayed on English time so that [tiredness or jet lag] won’t be a problem. We got in at 1.30am so we just need to recover and then go again on Sunday.

“You saw the celebrations at full-time and what it meant to the boys. It was just relief after what happened in the game and what has happened in the past. The fans have wanted European football back for a long time - and now we have given it to them.”

As it happens, it will only a small travelling support which makes it across the city on Sunday, in reaction to a Rangers decision to limit access to away fans at Ibrox, but Tavernier feels this side have the mentality to deal with such adversity and on the evidence of Thursday night he might have a point.

“It will be different as we are used to the two sets of fans singing away,” he said. “It’s disappointing to see less away fans but we have to block that out and get on with the game.”