STEVEN GERRARD has had a few sessions with his players telling them what Rangers is all about and I think you can see that really sinking into the squad this season.

The players the manager has brought into the group this summer have certainly made the team stronger and there is a mentality there as well as the quality.

You could see that on Thursday night as we beat Midtjylland and moved through to the Europa League play-off round. A 3-1 win at Ibrox gave us a 7-3 aggregate victory and Steven couldn’t have asked for much more from what looked like a tricky tie before a ball was kicked.

Steven has got a terrific record in European competition and while you have to consider some of the opposition we have played, to only lose twice in 20 games is very good.

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The performances in first couple of rounds against St Joseph’s and Progres Niederkorn were professional but they stepped it up against Midtjylland and Rangers produced two very good showings in Denmark and at Ibrox.

The more you win games in Europe, the more confidence you get at that level and the more the momentum can build, so it was a really important victory for Rangers the other night. Yes, they slackened off a wee bit towards the end but the tie was well won by that stage.

The manager will make that point to the players, though. And he will hammer home the message that they will need to step it up again when they face Legia Warsaw in the play-off round over the next fortnight.

I was talking to a Polish guy at Ibrox on Thursday and he was telling me that Legia are solid defensively and they don’t concede many goals. That is the strength of their team and they look to hit the opposition on the break.

He reckoned they were solid at the back, they don’t give much away and most of their better players are defenders. So it could be set up for a tight tie and Rangers will have to go and break them down but the manager will have them watched and be fully up to speed with what to expect next week.

Going to Poland, any score draw would be a good result for Rangers. Getting that away goal is so important and teams know if they can go on the road and get a goal that could make a big difference for them going back to their own patch.

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The European games have contributed to another really encouraging start to the season for Rangers and it would be great if they could go on and reach the group stages once again.

If you had said when Steven was appointed that Rangers would qualify for the Europa League at the first attempt and then be one tie away second time round, every fan would have been delighted with that, no doubt about it.

The financial aspect of group stage football is obviously important for Rangers but it is about the prestige for the club as well.

Rangers need to be back at that level, or higher hopefully, on a consistent basis and hopefully Steven can deliver that.

He and his staff are getting Rangers back to where they should be and the fans have really bought into what they are doing right now.

The fans have stood by the club through thick and thin with a passion and a loyalty and they deserve success. They are enjoying themselves these days, and that is great to see home and away.

The next few weeks are all about momentum for Rangers. This start has to continue at both home and abroad and the players get that now.