RYAN JACK is confident Steven Gerrard’s seven summer signings have taken Rangers up a level ahead of the new campaign.

Ibrox boss Gerrard overhauled the squad he inherited when he was appointed 12 months ago but those efforts weren’t enough to win any domestic silverware.

There was success in the Europa League as the Light Blues reached the group stages at the first attempt. And midfielder Jack is encouraged by the positive signs from the Gers’ training camp in Portugal this week.

He told RangersTV: “I am optimistic ahead of the new season, we have a great squad of boys and we have kept the core of the team from last season so far, hopefully that continues.

“I think we have added real quality and there could be a couple more to come.

“So I think, no disrespect to last season, but I think the squad we are building is getting stronger and stronger, hopefully come the start of this season that shows.

“The games come thick and fast and you need to be ready. This camp has been hard work so far but the staff here make it enjoyable as well.

“There are no doubts about how important this period is. Because we are starting earlier then we need to start pre-season earlier than other teams usually would.

“The calibre of games we will play in Europe will be high, they are tough games and thinking back we played Osijek which personally I thought was one of the toughest ties we had in the Europa League.

“It shows you that if you do take the competition lightly and don’t put in the extra training and hard graft in pre-season then you could get caught out.

“The coaching staff will cover all bases and I am confident we are ready for when we start again.”