Steven Gerrard admitted defeat in Prague has left Rangers needing a win against Brondby at Ibrox to keep their Europa League dream alive.
The Ibrox boss watched his side go down to their second successive Group A loss as David Hancko headed the only goal for the home team.
Following defeat to Lyon in their section opener, Gerrard conceded only victory against the Danes on October 21 in the first of their double header will do.
Glen Kamara was sent off to compound Gers’ misery in the Latna Stadium but Allan McGregor had to pull off a string of saves to keep the scoreline down.
He told Rangers TV : “I’m disappointed with the scoreline obviously. I’m disappointed at the start we’ve had in the group - losing two games is not ideal - and the next game is must-win now.
“We have to win the next game at home to Brondby to give ourselves an outside chance.
“In terms of the performance, I thought Sparta just edged it in terms of chances but I was really pleased with the boys - especially when we to 10 men.
“We threw caution to the wind and tried our best to try and rescue a point but it wasn’t to be.
“Unfortunately, we’ve lost the boxes. They had one good chance from a set play and took it - which we’ll need to look at - and we had two similar chances and didn’t take them.
“For large parts of the game we passed the ball really well and played with control. We can still be better around the box in terms of variety, trying to open a team out.
“Our keeper has been busier than theirs and we have to admit that. But when we went to 10 men and took more risks and played with more endeavour and desire I thought we created more and still thought we could rescue a point.
“We were certainly still in the game right until the death and had some good set piece opportunities but just couldn’t get that important goal.”
Juninho Bacuna was handed his first start but went off injured and is now a doubt for the top of the table clash against Hibs on Sunday.
Gerrard said: “We’re hoping we got to Bacuna’s injury before it got any worse.
"We’re hoping to have him available for the weekend but he’s only got an outside chance right now.
“In terms of the Europa League we need to get a reaction. We need to take maximum points against Brondby but right now we need to move on quickly and get ready for a top of the table game against Hibs and we’re looking forward to it.”
