GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST has targeted an immediate improvement in Rangers' defensive showings ahead of his return to Ibrox as manager.

The Dutchman will begin his reign as boss when Rangers host Sparta Prague in their defining Europa League clash on Thursday evening.

The champions head into the matchday five fixture with a place in the knockout rounds in their sights but knowing they will have to raise their levels after a difficult few weeks domestically.

Van Bronckhorst saw Rangers ship three first half goals as they were dumped out of the Premier Sports Cup by Hibernian at the weekend.

And the new Light Blues boss knows addressing their weak defensive efforts must be one of his priorities during the opening weeks of his Ibrox tenure.

Van Bronckhorst said: “We weren’t happy with the result or the goals we conceded on Sunday. So we have to make sure we are defensively much more focused and compact.

“For me, the defending part of the game is for everyone. We trained tactically the last two days to make sure we are well prepared for Sparta Prague.

“The first thing you want to do, not only in Europe but in every game, is to be defensively solid, to keep the zero and try to win the game by scoring goals.

“That’s the main objective [on Thursday], to defend really well and make sure we keep the zero.

“We are preparing the boys well for [the game] Of course, you also take notice of the last game.

“Some things I saw which I thought we need to improve, all in mind to be better prepared for tomorrow.

“That’s always the case for me. If we can improve things, and obviously we have to, then I will take that into account.

“So it’s a little bit of both - looking a little bit back and to the next game in which areas we need to improve and how.

"We have to prepare ourselves tactically for when we have the ball and when we want to win the ball back.”