Rangers ace says team had 'no doubts' over key teammate as he reveals his dream Europa League draw

The Ibrox giants head into Sunday’s game with Ross County on a high after their impressive 2-1 win on Thursday saw them nab a top-eight spot and seal automatic qualification to the knockout stage of the competition on goal difference. Raskin, who scored the game’s opening goal, has urged the team to repeat the performance as they host the Staggies tomorrow.

“We put ourselves in a very good position before the game,” said the Belgian midfielder. “We had a little chance to be [top eight], we just had to come out and do the job, get the win and see what else was going on around. That’s football. We made it.

“We like to perform in Europe, the crowd like to be in Europe, so let’s try and make it as long as possible. The club has been very proud about that [the 2022 Europa League run] and they have been showing us. Now it is up to us to go game by game. We have the quality, the group and the fans to do it. Sunday is going to be a very, very different game. We need to give the same intensity and go for the win.”

Philippe Clement’s injury-ravaged squad resulted in James Tavernier being deployed at in an unfamiliar centre-back position in midweek, but Raskin believes the outstanding performance of his “amazing” teammate was proof of his importance to the Rangers cause.

“Tav is a leader,” said Raskin. “He is an example. You see him everyday working, putting the standards high. It is amazing to be like this. We learn a lot from him. Today he has been amazing, one assist, a great block. He is a top player. We as a team never had doubts, because we see what he shows us, and what he does on the training ground. Tav is a hall of famer at this club. That means something, it can’t disappear after one game, or in one spell. He is a real leader and we all learn a lot from him. It is amazing to have him here, so we can all learn from him. Sometimes football forgets everything very quickly.”

While Ianis Hagi and Clinton Nsiala are able to return against Ross County after being ineligible against Union Saint-Gilloise, Rangers’ absentee list refuses to shrink with Leon King’s head knock adding to their lengthy injury list. However, Raskin trusts in the squad to continue to dig deep, revealing that he himself is playing through the pain barrier.

“Ross McCausland came on and played right-back and played great,” beamed Raskin. “Hamza [Igamane] was left-wing and played great. We’ve got the squad to cope and go very deep, we’ve shown it in the past and we’ve shown it today. I’m playing with a small problem, but we do it for the club, we do it for them. We are trying to go to the limit to get the job done.

“We can beat everybody. Personally I would like to go to Anderlecht, because it is one of the biggest rivals for my team in Belgium. It doesn’t matter who we play though, let’s just try and do the job home and away. My phone is already full of messages [from Belgian friends] but I’m just pleased we got the win and the top eight.”