Scott Arfield insists Rangers are ready to give Red Star Belgrade the Borussia Dortmund treatment when the Serbs come to Ibrox on Thursday.
The Light Blues midfielder believes expectations have grown ahead of the last-16 Europa League clash after Gers’ heroics against the Germans in the last round.
Another huge occasion beckons for a side which banked three Premiership points in an uninspiring weekend win over Aberdeen.
But Arfield believes that a European night under the lights will see Giovanni van Bronckhorst ’s men once again hit the heights against a side he’s warned will be a force to be reckoned with.
He said: “I think there is an expectation, people will probably put us as favourites for this, but we don’t see ourselves as that.
“We see it as a top, top team coming to Ibrox. They won their group.
“It’s going to be amazing. I think the expectation for us is always the same, to try and win those games.
“It doesn’t matter who we play against, whether it’s a bigger stature club in terms of Borussia or teams like this that are coming here.
“Red Star are a terrific team. They are in this stage of the competition for a reason.”
Arfield made a telling contribution as a late arrival from the bench in Saturday’s 1-0 triumph over the Dons and he insists the result came well before any analysis of a below-par performance.
He said: “The way the game went, the way the game flowed, at the end of it to take the three points was the most important thing.
“Over the last couple of months we’ve been talking about performances and getting wins at the same time.
“Sometimes it can happen and sometimes people come here and make it as difficult as they can.
“The most important thing is always getting the three points and we managed to do it. There are teams that are going to come here and have a go in terms of pressing and there are teams who are going to sit back and have two banks of four and keep it tight.
“There are different ways to play football. Nothing’s right, nothing’s wrong, it’s about how you combat that”
Kemar Roofe’s late strike sealed the win after he, too, came off the bench and Arfield is adamant it underlined the importance of the strength in depth boss van Bronckhorst has at his disposal.
He said: “You can impact the game in different ways, sometimes it’s not about on the ball it’s about keeping shapes and getting around people.
“Thankfully the subs came on and had an impact and in particular Kemar because he comes on and gets the goal.”
The victory over Aberdeen allowed the club to celebrate their 150th anniversary and Arfield insists he revelled in the party atmosphere.
He said: “It’s phenomenal. Driving in and seeing it being so busy. There were excitement levels for everybody.
“As players we are incredibly grateful to be here at this time and we wanted to get the three points to make it a celebratory day.
“We managed to do it and everybody had a good one.”
Van Bronckhorst insists all eyes now turn to Europe after an energy sapping run of games which was evident in his side’s display against the Dons.
He said: “I’m really delighted we won. It’s been a busy week, it cost us a lot of energy and we saw that, and we have time now to get a bit of a rest for two days and then we are going to prepare for Red Star.”
