STEVEN GERRARD never doubted Daniel Candeias would recover from his Europa League disappointment after seeing him produce his finest 45 minutes during his time as manager.

The Portuguese was left out of Rangers’ Europa League squad for the first qualifying round clash with St Joseph’s last week and didn’t feature in the 4-0 win in Gibraltar.

While Candeias was left on the sidelines, he saw summer signings Sheyi Ojo and Jordan Jones make the most of their starting spots on Tuesday night.

Jones produced a solid showing on his competitive debut, while Ojo marked the occasion with a well-taken goal as Ryan Jack, Borna Barisic and Alfredo Morelos also found the target to put Rangers in control of the tie.

Candeias won’t be eligible for the second leg at Ibrox on Thursday but he made the most of his chance to impress against Marseille as he came back into the team.

The winger opened the scoring inside 17 minutes as he collected a pass from Morelos and rifled the ball beyond keeper Steve Mandanda to set Rangers on their way to a 4-0 victory.

And his second goal was even better as Jack picked him out with a terrific ball over the top of the Marseille defence before he finished clinically from the edge of the area.

Candeias was replaced at the break as boss Gerrard made a handful of changes in the second half but did more than enough to please his manager.

Gerrard said: “He was outstanding for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch. That’s not a surprise. I have been around Daniel for 12 months now. I wish I’d seen more of that on a consistent basis.

“That’s probably the best 45 minutes I’ve seen from him. You have to take into account it was a pre-season friendly.

“It’s impossible to pick everyone in squads of 22, 18 or the starting eleven. People are going to be upset and disappointed when they are left out.

“Of course, you expect them to be professional and give you the right reaction. But it wasn’t a surprise. Daniel is a great professional, he is in first every morning. He is robust and always available.

“He had a decent season for me last year, he scored a handful of goals and provided a handful of assists.

“But I’m always trying to raise the bar. I’m looking for players in those positions to get double figures in terms of those numbers and that’s the challenge for all of them.”

The first half brace from Candeias ensured Rangers continued their unbeaten run this summer and there were further goals after the break as Gerrard’s side impressed once again.

Connor Goldson and Jermain Defoe rounded off the scoring against the Ligue 1 visitors and there were plenty of positives for Gerrard to take as attentions turn to the second leg of the St Joseph’s tie.

He said: “It was very beneficial. It was a good test for us against a good team who are full of individual players with a good coach.

“The idea is to give the players different tests and challenges throughout pre-season. They faced a technical team today, similar to some of the European challenges we are hoping to face moving forward.

“That’s how we want to look at Ibrox. It’s our pitch, we want to try and own it as much as we can. You saw a very hungry performance, in and out of possession.

“We have quality players now in each position, people fighting for places. We showed against good players today we can handle the ball and move it in the right areas.

“It looked really good on the eye at times but I was also really impressed with our hunger and intensity to win the ball back.”