Steven Gerrard: Rangers are a tough nut to crack in Europe

Steve Gerrard would be “disappointed” if Rangers did not reach the Europa League knock-out stage for the second year in a row.

The Ibrox outfit have been drawn against Benfica, Standard Liege and Lech Poznan after Thursday night’s 2-1 win over Galatasaray sealed a place in the group stages for the third year running.

And Gerrard expects to see his team escape Group D but conceded the opposition are “good teams in their own right”.

He said: “I think the challenge is to try and get out of the group, of course it is. No-one will be shouting from the rooftops because we have to respect to opposition that are in the group.

“They are good teams in their own right, they have got good players. But we will take each game as it comes, give it everything we have got and try and do our best to finish as high as we can in the group.

“I would be disappointed if we don’t get out of the group because the players have shown over the last couple of years that we have got a level in Europe that we are a tough nut to crack and we have shown amazing quality going forward as well.

“We will be a good contest for anyone in the group, home or away, and I am really looking forward to the challenge.”