STEVEN GERRARD has challenged his players to maintain Rangers’ early season momentum with victory over Progres Niederkorn ahead of their Premiership opener this weekend.
The Light Blues have travelled to Luxembourg with a 2-0 lead from the first leg at Ibrox last Thursday and are poised to clinch a third qualifying round berth.
Gerrard’s side kick-off their top flight title bid at Rugby Park on Sunday and the 39-year-old is determined to continue their impressive start to the campaign.
He said: “I want to see the same positive approach. As far as I’m concerned, last week is done.
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“We started this game 0-0 and we are coming here to win the game. It’s always dangerous if you start thinking about advantages and how the first leg went.
“I want the players to approach this game in isolation. I want to see us build on a very positive pre-season.
“I said to the players after the Derby game that giving people minutes and pre-season preparation is gone. We are now going to put our foot on the gas and go for real.
“We are approaching our domestic season so we want to go into the Kilmarnock game in a good place. The only way we can do that is to get a positive result here. I am looking for a good solid away performance. And a win.
“I will be surprised if both 11s are exactly the same but I will be picking two very strong teams for both games. With the squad we’ve got now, if I do make minor changes, I don’t see a big difference.
“But I would be very surprised if the team is exactly the same. We will wait and see. I won’t give anything away in terms of team selection.
“The players don’t know the team yet. But everyone is knocking on the door. The last three or four days has been very intensive in training. People are wanting to start and everyone is pushing, which is great for me.”
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Boss Gerrard will be without the services of midfielder Steven Davis for the clash at the Stade Josy Barthel after he picked up a knock in the win over Derby.
But the Northern Irishman should be fit enough to return to action for the trip to Ayrshire on Sunday afternoon.
Gerrard said: “The players are in good shape and have trained really well. I’m over here with a fully fit squad besides Steven Davis and everyone is fully focused on finishing the job. Steven had a tight hamstring after the Derby game.
“At a real big push he probably could have been with us but at this stage of the season it is not worth taking the risk. I think he will have a good chance of making Kilmarnock on Sunday.”
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