GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST will call on striker Alfredo Morelos to salvage Rangers' Champions League dreams as he prepares to return to action at Ibrox.
The striker has not turned out for Van Bronckhorst's side since the win over Dundee in March after suffering a serious thigh injury on international duty with Colombia.
But he is now in line to feature in the second leg of the clash with Union Saint-Gilloise and be tasked with keeping Rangers in the competition this term.
A 2-0 win on Tuesday night has put the Belgians in a commanding position but the return of Morelos could be the spark that is required for Rangers to transform the tie and secure a play-off spot.
Van Bronckhorst said: "Yeah I think that is realistic. He has been training with us for quite some time and he is getting better and sharper every day.
"We also have him in the UEFA list for this round so hopefully he will continue and he will be there next week."
Rangers produced an abject performance at Den Dreef as a first half strike from Teddy Tuema and controversial late Dante Vanzeir penalty condemned them to a dispiriting defeat.
There were few positives for Van Bronckhorst to take and the Ibrox boss was left to rue a series of individual and collective failings on the night.
Van Bronckhorst said: “A lot went wrong and we’re disappointed with our performance.
“We didn’t reach the levels we need to compete and that was the most disappointing thing for me.
“That has to change for next week because we lost. We have the possibility to change for next week.
“We’re going to play at home with a big crowd who always support us every game we play.
“But first of all, the performance has to change from what we showed."
Rangers are now preparing for a make-or-break 90 minutes as they attempt to avoid a second successive qualifying round exit from the Champions League.
The run to Seville showcased Ibrox at its best last term and Van Bronckhorst knows improvement must be found to give the home crowd reason to believe next Tuesday.
Van Bronckhorst said: “Of course it gives you confidence. But my feeling now is the disappointment of this game.
“You know what we did well last year was to bring a good result home with us - a narrow defeat, or a win or a draw.
“I think the most disappointing thing is the performance because we didn’t reach our level and that’s why we lost the game.
"My biggest task next week is to make sure we put in a much better performance than we showed."
