STEVEN DAVIS knows as well as anyone at Ibrox the years of effort – both on and off the park – that it took to return Rangers to the Champions League.
But the midfielder is equally aware that merely taking part is not the Rangers way as Giovanni van Bronckhorst tries to find a method that can deliver success at this level.
Rangers sit bottom of Group A without a point or a goal to their credit following the defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday night. It was another harsh lesson and reminder about just where they are as a club and a team right now.
In terms of the result, losing 2-0 at Anfield was an improvement on the 4-0 thumping away to Ajax and the 3-0 defeat at home to Napoli. In reality, it could, and should, have been a different story, though, as Allan McGregor produced a terrific performance to keep the scoreline respectable at the end of a one-sided affair.
Rangers still have the Europa League in their sights this term and the visit of Liverpool will be followed by an Ibrox showdown with Ajax that will determine their fate before the campaign is rounded off by an ominous trip to Napoli.
The Champions League dream has turned into a nightmare. It is an experience Davis insists Rangers will learn from, however, as they strive to prove themselves at the top level once again.
Davis said: "You always have to have that confidence that there are areas in that team you can hurt. You saw in the second half spaces started to open up a little bit and we got some good combinations in the wide area and got in.
"We know if we do get chances in the next leg, we have to be clinical with them.
"Again it's going to be a tough game but we've worked really hard to get to this level and we want to enjoy it. Unfortunately, results haven't gone the way we'd have liked them to at this point but being at home next week will give us something to really get our teeth into.
"We have to analyse the game and look at the things that we did well. There's clearly things we can improve on.
"It's a massive step up for us in the Champions League but we want to enjoy it and the only way we can do that is to get results against these top teams. It's one for us to look forward to next week.
"Of course it's a learning curve. We've worked ever so hard to get ourselves to this level.
"The club has been on a journey over the last 10 or 11 years. We knew it was going to be a step up but it's great to test ourselves against this level of opposition.
"There's been a lot of work gone in on and off the field to get us back to this level but clearly once you're here you want to compete and get results. We have three more opportunities to do that, starting next week at home."
Rangers were always going to be up against it at Anfield but their chances of a shock win were all-but extinguished when Trent Alexander-Arnold curled home a wonderful free-kick inside seven minutes.
A clinical penalty from Mohamed Salah just after the break made sure of the points as Rangers escaped with limited damage done to their record and their confidence.
Positives were hard to come by once again. The post-mortem will be harsh but it is necessary if the penny is to drop for Van Bronckhorst and his players.
Davis said: "It wasn't the greatest of starts with the free-kick going in. It was a moment of quality and they always ask questions of you throughout the game.
"We tried to stay in the game but obviously they got the penalty in the second half and it wasn't until late on that we threatened their goal, which might have made the last few minutes interesting.
"We knew coming here would be tough and it proved to be that.
"Yeah [the free-kick] was a moment of individual quality and unfortunately there's not much you can do. It was important for us to try keep ourselves in the game at that point.
"The penalty in the second half saw the game go against us and it then became a difficult night.
"Whenever you go to a place like this when the opposition have the quality they do, then it's always about trying to get the balance right between keeping your shape and restricting the space because we know they can hurt you if you open up too much.
"That's what we obviously came here to do, to keep it tight in the initial period and then look to carry a threat.
"We could have done better on the ball ourselves at times. It was a tough night.”
