STEVEN GERRARD feared Borna Barisic would see an unjustified red card in Rangers’ Europa League draw with Progres Niederkorn as his side moved through to the third qualifying round.

The Light Blues were far from their best at the Stade Josy Barthel but will now face Midtjylland after overcoming Progres in Luxembourg.

Boss Gerrard had to withdraw Barisic at half-time after he picked up a soft yellow card for an innocuous challenge on Mayron De Almeida early on.

And the performance of referee Ivaylo Stoyanov was just one of the factors that left the 39-year-old bemused on a frustrating night.

Gerrard said: “I took Borna off at half-time because I can’t take any risks with him.

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“I have to think of team instead of the individual and it was the same with Scotty Arfield when he got booked.

“I can’t have any ill-discipline because I didn’t trust the officials tonight. The way the officials were tonight there was every chance there could have been a second yellow and I don’t need that moving forward.

“We were better in the second half. We have to finish those moves off because against tougher tests we could come unstuck so I am wanting a bit more quality in the final third.

“It was an efficient performance even if it was a grind. But we had to grind last year too to get to where we wanted.

“It wasn’t even a foul [from Barisic], the guy just ran into him but they were just constantly fouling all night long and it was difficult to get into a rhythm, especially when everything was against you. The ball was light, it was a balloon, bobbling everywhere.

“They use different balls in different places until you get into the group stage. The pitch was dry, the dressing room was 155 degrees. Everything. It was just a grind the whole night.”

The goalless draw won’t go down as a memorable outing for Gerrard’s side as they somehow failed to record a second win over Progres after their first leg success last week.

And the Ibrox boss was pleased to get through as the Gers took another step towards the group stages this term.

Gerrard said: “It’s safe to say that I won’t be watching that back again. Look, I always try and take the positives. It was another clean sheet, qualification for the next round, job done.

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“But that’s about it. I thought it was a grind to watch. I’m sure it was a grind to play in.

“There was nothing there to help the players tonight. The pitch was sticky, the ball was like a balloon, they were fouling at every opportunity and the referee was blowing up for every foul.

“It was just one of those nights. I don’t think the players will watch it back and I certainly won’t watch it back.

“We move onto the next round. We will have to play better moving forward and we will play better because we will be going to a better environment and coming up against better opposition. The players will be more motivated.”

Rangers made it through four qualifying rounds to reach the group stages in Gerrard’s first campaign as boss last term.

And now Midtjylland lie in wait for the Light Blues as they head to Denmark for the first leg next Thursday night.

Gerrard said: “They have more experience than St Joseph’s and Progres and better individual players and they play in a better league. They have some really good individual players.

“As we go along we know it’s going to get tougher, it did last year but sometimes you have to just get over the line in any way, shape or form.

“We did that tonight without being really good on the eye. It’s job done but the test are going to get more difficult, starting Sunday at Kilmarnock. We have to be better in front of goal.”