ALLAN McGregor has admitted he would have preferred Rangers to have more pre-season friendly matches before their Europa League double header against FK Shkupi.

McGregor, who joined from Hull City on a free transfer in the summer, is set to make his first appearance for the Ibrox club in six years against English League Two club Bury in Glasgow tomorrow evening

The Scotland internationalist and his team mates will then take on Shkupi in the first leg of their Europa League first qualifying round tie at home next Thursday.

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And Steven Gerrard’s new-look team will play the second leg away in Macedonia just five days after that.

Rangers have only played one match under Liverpool and England great Gerrard so far – a closed-doors game against Welsh rivals The New Saints at the Hummel Training Centre on Tuesday.

Goalkeeper McGregor confessed that having a competitive fixture so in early July was far from ideal - but stressed that he was confident the Gers would handle the situation professionally.

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Asked if the Bury game would be an important 90 minutes by Rangers TV, McGregor said: “It is. All the friendly games are. We need games, especially before the European games. It will be good to get the two games before it. The boys will all get a good run-out.

“It is important for all the goalkeepers and the players. I think I would personally have a few more, but it is just the way it is. The European games come quite early. We just need to take it in our stride and deal with it.”