RANGERS have an artificial pitch and no travelling supporters to contend with in Bern tomorrow night, but at least there shouldn’t be any rogue sprinkler heads getting in the way. Richard Gough was famously embarrassed by said item when he visited the Stade de Suisse, then called the Wankdorf Stadium, in the colours of Scotland in September 1992. Captaining Craig Brown’s side, he was red-carded for catching a loose ball which veered up off the turf whilst in a ‘last man’ position.

When it comes to tomorrow night’s Europa League meeting with Young Boys in the same venue, on the other hand, Gough has backed the Ibrox side to deal with everything the Swiss will throw at them. Not least because he sees shades of Jim McLean’s Dundee United team of the early to mid 1980s in the way Steven Gerrard’s side like to soak up pressure then hit teams on the counter attack.

That is quite the compliment when you consider that, with a young Gough in their ranks, they made it all the way to the 1984 European Cup semi-final, and a rather dubious defeat to AS Roma. Gerrard’s side have lost just twice in 23 European matches under the Englishman. A Young Boys side who beat Juventus in the Champions League group stages last season and were a 91st minute goal from taking a point at Old Trafford last season will put that record to the test.

“The lack of away fans WILL be a factor,” said Gough. “It’s always good to see and hear your fans behind you. But there were times when I was at Rangers when we did not get many tickets. I remember matches away in Belgrade and Athens where there were a handful of fans up in the corner but you couldn’t really hear them.

“Every away game in Europe is an adventure. European football is hard because it’s a step up but Rangers have a fantastic record in Europe under Steven Gerrard. Okay, it’s not the top level, the Champions League, and top teams we faced like Juventus and Ajax but their record has been very good. I think European football suits the way Rangers play.

“It reminds me of when I was at Dundee United as a kid and we used to hit teams on the break. We had a very good back four and midfield. We were very defensive but we had [Paul] Sturrock, [Eamonn] Bannon and [Ralph] Milne and we were very good on the break. We would soak up the pressure and hit teams on the break. I watched them play the Danish side Midjytlland and they scored a few on the break and they could have scored more.”

Gough gushes about the impact Allan McGregor has on this Rangers team – comparing it to the effect a young Ray Clemence had on his Tottenham Hotspur side back in the day. “He’s a huge influence with his experience,” said Gough. “I’ll watch a game and what you don’t always see on TV is him shouting and screaming at the team. He reminds me of Ray Clemence, who was a keeper who taught me a lot in my younger days and McGregor is of that ilk. The senior players are so important in every club. They run the place.”

Gough watched Saturday’s 5-0 win against Aberdeen in the company of his friend and LA Galaxy technical director Jovan Kirovski, who was an interested observer in Alfredo Morelos.”He was asking me about him and said to me, ‘he looks a touch heavy, Richard’. I told him to watch and he would score twice and right enough a minute’s later he scored. He’s quietened down and realised the ability he’s got. Three years ago no one was looking at any of our players, now they are, which is good.”

The nine-in-a-row legend speaks regularly to Gerrard to this day – and dropped him a text in the wake of the 2-0 Old Firm defeat to Celtic. The 57-year-old, who will line up against Gerrard as a Rangers Legends side take on a Liverpool Legends side, reminded him how volatile these fixtures are and said that all will be forgotten if he wins ‘the next one’. “In Scotland we’re either very good or very bad, especially in those games.”

**Richard Gough was speaking to promote 'The Game Of Legends', which sees Rangers Legends take on Liverpool Legends on Saturday 12th October 2019, kick Off 3pm, Ibrox Stadium. The Rangers side will be managed by former Rangers and Scotland manager Alex McLeish, captained by Gough and will feature a host of Gers legends, to be announced in due course.

The Reds will be captained by Gers boss Steven Gerrard, managed by Ian Rush and his side will feature a host of other Liverpool Legends, including illustrious names such as Jamie Carragher, Luis Garcia and Patrick Berger.