Buzzing Ross Sykes admits he's living the dream with Union Saint-Gilloise after going from Accrington Stanley to a shot at Rangers in the Champions League.
The Europa League finalists travel to Belgium to face their league runners-up in Leuven for the first leg. Union have got off to a good start this season with a draw at Sint-Truiden and a home win against Charleroi. Sykes, 23, netted the game's only goal at the weekend after his surprise summer move from Lancashire club Accrington to Belgian football.
And he admits he has to pinch himself that he's gone from the English League One club Stanley, who have an average attendance last season of 2,776, to a chance of testing himself against the Europa League runners-up. He said: "Playing against Rangers in the Champions League is the kind of match you dream about when you are a kid growing up.
"Even though we'll be playing against a British team, it doesn't make much difference to me. It's a huge occasion anyway.
"We need to rest for a few days and be as strong as we possibly can for Rangers by preparing properly. It was a wonderful feeling to win our first home match. The atmosphere reminded me of English stadiums. And of course, it was an added bonus for me to score.
"I came here because I was well aware of what this team accomplished last season. Well, we want to match that this season at least.
We still have the same ambitions and want to fight for the title."
And Union's keeper Anthony Morris insisted the Rangers game doesn't worry about him...because he's treating it like playing for Luxembourg. Morris has won 50 international caps for his country and the 32-year-old former Standard Liege shot-stopper is relishing a crack at Rangers.
He said: "I have enough experience in the game not to plan too far ahead. Anyway, I am used to playing big matches with Luxembourg so I am certainly not nervous about playing Rangers. A win against Charleroi was the ideal preparation. We have a lot of younger players in the squad, but that's a good thing. They will be full of enthusiasm and they will be excited about a game at this level on Tuesday."
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