Rangers boss Steven Gerrard says he won’t sacrifice the Europa League to have a better crack at stopping Celtic’s 9-in-a-row bid.
The Ibrox gaffer knows the importance of halting the Hoops’ dominance of the Scottish Premiership.
And he’s aware that as far Rangers fans are concerned, the league title is the priority, writes Scott McDermott in Portugal.
But despite admitting their charge to the Europa League group stage last year DID hinder their domestic campaign – Gerrard insists he wants to do it again.
Rangers have four qualifiers early in the season but the manager is adamant he can’t ease off for any competition.
Gerrard has already made seven signings this summer and said: “The squad isn’t finished yet but it’s not far off.
“Once we get it down a bit, we hope it’ll be strong enough to compete on all fronts.
“I understand the opinion of ex-players, the media and fans saying the league is the priority.
“But come a European night at Ibrox in front of 50,000 fans, if I put a weakened side out what are people going to say about me?
“If I toss off the League Cup what are people going to say about me?
“If I give up the Scottish Cup, what are people going to say?
“My job is to get a squad capable of trying to compete with what’s in front of us.
“There’s no getting away form the fact the league’s the priority. But we’re going to give everything in the other competitions as well.
“The Europa League definitely had an impact last season. In terms of how many points it cost us in the league? It’s impossible to say.
“So did the discipline side of things so we have to learn from that.
“That’s the reason we’ve had to be quick in the transfer market to get a strong squad together.
“These games are about to us hard and we have to be prepared.”
Meanwhile, Rangers have struck a deal to keep youngster Josh McPake at Ibrox despite interest from elsewhere.
The 19-year-old winger is highly rated by Gerrard and with just a year left on his contract, the likes of Liverpool and Roma were keen.
But McPake has committed his future to the club and will sign a three-year extension when the squad return from their pre-season training camp in Portugal on Sunday.
