JAMES TAVERNIER reckons Rangers could become a 'force to be reckoned with' at Europa League level ahead of their Group A opener against Lyon.
The champions have enjoyed significant success in the competition over the previous three seasons and reached the last 16 in back-to-back campaigns under Steven Gerrard's guidance.
A place in the group stages of the Champions League evaded Rangers this term but Gerrard will mark his 50th European fixture as manager with a stand-out clash against the Ligue 1 giants.
Tavernier has been a key part of the progress that has seen Rangers re-establish themselves on the continent and knows Gerrard's side will be one that others will be keen to avoid this time out.
Tavernier said: “The transition has been overwhelming since the gaffer came in. There was obviously progress, a tiny bit, before he came in but since the gaffer’s came in he’s transformed the place inside out.
"His staff, everyone around him at the club, the board, they have really invested in the team and the training ground and the stadium and really transformed this place to be the Rangers that we know it is.
"With them all behind us we have to show the faith from the other side and give him the results that he needs.
“Definitely [we are a side that other don't want to draw]. We’ve had previous seasons in the Europa and teams have come out and say that we were really hard to play against.
"We want to continue that and improve on that and be a really hard team to play against and a force to be reckoned with.
"The only way we can do that is to push ourselves every single day on the training pitch and domestically as well, keeping that momentum going and keeping winning games.”
After missing out on a place in the knockout rounds during their first season under Gerrard, Rangers would ultimately lose to Bayer Leverkusen and Slavia Prague as they fell short of the quarter-finals in his next two terms.
And that has to be the ambition this time around as a capacity Ibrox gets set to welcome the champions and their main rivals for top spot in Group A on what could be a memorable European occasion.
Tavernier said: "It is definitely realistic [to progress further than we have previously] and we need to set targets.
"We always want to better ourselves from what we do in previous seasons and we want to do better this season than we have done previously.
"It is going to be a tough game but we look forward to these occasions and it brings the best out in us. Our plan is to try and get out the group stage and beat our record and go further in the Europa.
"We want to make Ibrox a fortress for teams coming. We don’t want teams to take points away from us. We will try and get the maximum points in every single game.
"Our record speaks for itself and we want to have that record there so that teams know it is going to be a tough place to come.
"With the fans right behind us, especially this season, hopefully we can get the points we need to start the group stage in a good way."
Boss Gerrard has ranked the challenge of Lyon as arguably the toughest that has side have faced in Europa League action ahead of their Ibrox showdown.
But there will be no place in the French attack for former Celtic star Moussa Dembele after he was ruled out of a return to Glasgow through injury this week.
Tavernier said: “They have got other players in their squad that we know bring quality to their team. We are just looking to playing against their full 11.
"He’s obviously not travelling but they have people in his place who can do a job in that position. We are going to be fully focussed on who we have to mark and who we have to play against.”
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