JON MCLAUGHLIN has warned Rangers will see their Champions League dreams ended in Eindhoven unless they shape up at set-pieces during the second leg of their clash with PSV.
A 2-2 draw at Ibrox on Tuesday night has left the play-off tie on a knife-edge as Giovanni van Bronckhorst aims to lead his side into the group stages this term.
Goals from Antonio Colak and Tom Lawrence gave Rangers the lead after Ibrahim Sangare's opener but it wasn't enough to secure the win as Armando Obispo netted late on.
Rangers were masters of their own downfall on both occasions as they failed to deal with corners and Sangare scored from close range and Obispo powered home a header.
Keeper McLaughlin was left exposed by the defence in front of him and knows there must be a collective improvement if Rangers are to finish the job in the Philips Stadion and secure a Champions League spot.
"Of course," McLaughlin said when asked if Rangers had to improve their defending from corners ahead of the second leg. "Set-pieces is always going to be a big factor and it’s disappointing that, ultimately, that’s where they got their joy twice.
"Of course they had other opportunities and played well in other areas. But if we can address that then of course we are working hard all the time to make sure that’s not an issue.
"At this level you get punished if things don’t go your way in that sense.
"That’s what’s happened in the first game and I’m sure they will be looking hard at that for the second leg.
"But we’ve also got to take a lot of confidence from the way we played against this team.
"If we can go away and apply ourselves the way we did at Ibrox there is no reason why we can’t be on the right side of the result.
"It would mean everything [to qualify]. There is no doubt that everybody is desperate for that to happen.
"It would be huge for the club and huge for the fans to have it back after 12 years.
"It would be a huge feather in the cap for everyone and we are just trying to do everything we desperately can to get there."
