JON MCLAUGHLIN knows the early season qualifiers can be a lottery at times. But the keeper is confident Rangers can hit the Champions League jackpot and bank their Euro millions this term.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side return to continental competition when they face Royale Union Saint-Gillois in their third round clash on Tuesday evening.
Rangers fell at the first hurdle twelve months ago as a shock defeat to Malmo saw them miss out on a place at the top table of the game and the lucrative prize money pot that goes with it.
The Premiership opener with Livingston on Saturday is the only competitive ball kicked this season but McLaughlin is sure Rangers will be ready to embark on their European adventure.
“Of course it’s a huge target,” McLaughlin said. “The focus, as always, for the players is to get that league title back but of course Champions League football is a massive thrill as well and a huge achievement if we could do that and everything that comes with it.
“As players, we are focusing fully on starting the league campaign well and then very quickly the European qualifiers will come.
“After last year, learning the lessons from Malmo, we know how tough it is going to be. We need to be ready for that.
“It comes very quickly and you have to be switched on fully. So we will be giving it everything to make sure that the club are in that Champions League group stage.
“There is that slight lottery that they come so quickly these games. Last year we were playing Malmo, a side that were well into their league campaign.
"We were at the end of our pre-season, and at the beginning of our campaign, so you face those sort of difficulties.
“And of course it’s Champions League football. Teams might be lesser known to fans or to yourselves or across the continent but the teams that you face are still very, very high quality.
“So you’ve got to give full respect to whoever you’re playing, try to put your best performance in.
"If we do that, we showed last year - with the teams that we went up against and beat in Europe - that we should have more than enough to go and do that. But you have to perform on the night.”
Boss Van Bronckhorst has lost Europa League heroes Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo from the squad that came within touching distance of the silverware in Seville.
But the arrival of seven new faces has bolstered the Ibrox ranks and raised confidence levels that Rangers can enjoy a successful campaign at home and abroad this term.
McLaughlin said: “I think we have made some really good signings. The early signs from them in training and in the pre-season games has been great.
“We know their pedigree from their previous clubs. And the atmosphere in the camp is really positive.
“You can see that lift when the new faces have started to come in and you see them out there on the training pitch or in games.
“It gives that lift and that bit of energy for other players to step up their game when you see good quality come in the door. As I’ve said with our department, if you’ve got that competition for places, it’s only going to spur you on.
“We've seen from the likes of young Nathan (Patterson) and Calvin what this can do. If you come to a club like this and you can perform and show your ability, that’s a huge carrot for players to see that the club are producing that kind of talent.
“It’s the highest level of football in Europe that you can be involved in.
"What that brings financially for the club, what that can do for strengthening the squad, what it can do for the players believing in their own ability... if you can go and compete at that level, it then helps you domestically.
"Of course Champions League football will be huge if we can achieve it.”
