Rangers midfielder Steven Davis reckons boss Gio van Bronckhorst was talking about winning the Champions League after his controversial "can't compete" claim.
The Northern Ireland international is preparing to face Serie A leaders Napoli as he looks to bounce back from two consecutive 4-0 defeats to rivals Celtic and Dutch champions Ajax. The fallout from the clash in Amsterdam has rumbled on with Rangers fans and pundits raising concerns over post-match comments from the Ibrox gaffer, where he played down his sides chances of rubbing shoulders with Europe's elite after reaching the 4-0 rout.
However, Davis aimed to cool the debate over the post-match debrief in Amsterdam, as the 37-year-old insisted his side have shown they can compete with top level clubs after reaching the Europa League final in Seville last term. Speaking ahead of the showdown at Ibrox, the veteran was asked for his take on the comments.
He responded: “I didn’t hear what was said first hand. My take was that it was taken out of context.
“I think maybe he was referring to winning the Champions League. But yeah, it’s obviously a really tough level to play at but we showed last season with the journey we went on to reach the Europa League final that we’re more than capable.
“If we max out and really hit our highest level then we know what we can do. We know what we have to do to try and do that.”
Speaking after defeat to Ajax, Van Bronckhorst told BT Sport: "To compete in Champions League you need hundreds of millions. If you look at all the squads you are facing now - Ajax and Liverpool.
"For us to compete with them it’s too much to ask. We want to compete but we want to compete with the squad we have and are able and capable in making. We knew it was going to be tough and that showed today (after the 4-0 defeat)."
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