KIRK BROADFOOT says the Rangers management will shield the players from the pressure that is mounting ahead of their £10million Champions League qualifiers.

KIRK BROADFOOT says the Rangers management will shield the players from the pressure that is mounting ahead of their £10million Champions League qualifiers.

Walter Smith's side were totally outclassed at the weekend by Schalke in a 1-0 defeat that brought the curtain down on their week-long trip to Germany.

Lithuanian's Kaunas are on the horizon, with the first leg of the second round qualifier at Ibrox now just nine days away.

Broadfoot sampled the group stages last term and would love a return.

But, given the problems Rangers have right now, they may well have their hands full to join Celtic and the rest of the elite.

But the former St Mirren man said: "Everybody knows the qualifiers are pressure games worth a lot of money to the club. But we try not to take much notice of that.

"There is more pressure on the coaching staff because they try to protect us from all that.

"I think that was the idea behind taking the Schalke game, and they did give us a bit of a runaround.

"If we get past Kaunas, we could face opposition of that standard."

Broadfoot was given a run-out at centre half, a position he rarely occupied last term when he was used as a right-back in the second half of the season.

Playing alongside David Weir was something he enjoyed.

But with Carlos Cuellar set to return this week from injury, and Steven Whittaker the first choice full-back, he faces a fight to get a place in the team.

He added: "It was good to get a run at centre back because I had forgotten what it was like.

"I feel I did reasonably well considering, but you cannot read too much into pre-season games."