Rangers’ Nicolas Raskin set for Europa League excitement in Spain next week

Nicolas Raskin believes Rangers have set themselves up for an “amazing” Europa League night in Spain next week following the gutsy goalless draw against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday night.

In an absorbing quarter-final first-leg tie at Ibrox against a side fourth in LaLiga, the Light Blues were reduced to 10 men after just 13 minutes when defender Robin Propper was sent off for a challenge on Inaki Williams.

Goalkeeper Liam Kelly, a controversial replacement for the out-of-form Jack Butland, sensationally saved a 79th-minute penalty from substitute Alex Berenguer and the home side went down to nine men in the 12 minutes of added time when defender Dujon Sterling was helped off with an injury with all substitutes used.

After such a disciplined defensive performance at odds with some recent William Hill Premiership games, Raskin outlined how Barry Ferguson’s side can make it through to the semi-finals.

The Belgium midfielder, who first has to get ready for a trip to Aberdeen in the league on Sunday, said: “I am proud of the team because it is always a tough game in Europe and it was 10 against 11 for the majority of the game, even nine against 11 at the end.

“So we are just proud of the performance, we know what we can do better and we are going to go there and try to stay with 11 and then go for the victory.

“I think we have competed very good defensively in Europe over the competition.

“If you look at the end of the game, Ross (McCausland) was right-back, Tav (James Tavernier) was centre-back, it just shows you how much heart we have and how much we want it.

“So let’s just go next week and look forward to doing something amazing.

“We have fans travelling, we want to make them proud. It’s going to be a difficult game but I think we all believe it.

“In Europe, at this stage of the competition, there is no easy game.

“We need a bit of luck like every game but we are confident and that is the way to look forward.

“We are going to need to defend the same way, run, make the extra effort, do the dirty work and put in some quality offensively.

“We are going to get Mohamed Diomande back (from suspension), that brings a lot of quality offensively, and John Souttar is coming back also, so the team is going to attack a bit more because we defended a lot on Thursday.

“It is 90 minutes or 120, we will just go and be offensive, good mentality, positive and we have everything to play for, so we are confident.”