DUTCH COURAGE

Gio insists his Rangers team is ready to do battle with Van Nistelrooy’s PSV

GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST insists he is ready for his Dutch duel with ex team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy as Rangers prepare to lock horns with PSV Eindhoven for a place in the Champions League.

The Ibrox side warmed up for the first leg of the play-off tie with a routine 4-0 win over St Johnstone that afforded Van Bronckhorst the luxury of leaving out star man Ryan Kent as a precaution.

Rabbi Matondo did a good job of filling the winger’s boots on the left flank, delivering second-half assists for Antonio Colak and Scott Arfield after Malik Tillman had climbed to head Rangers into a half-time lead. Substitute Tom Lawrence scored the other.

Van Bronckhorst acknowledged that a step up in intensity will be required against Van

Nistelrooy’s men, who were granted the weekend off by the Dutch FA.

However, he insisted Rangers’ experience of coping with a hectic schedule en route to last season’s Europa League final will help them cope.

He said: ‘We have just played, but we have had the preparation of two days’ rest between games many times last season.

‘The most important thing now is to keep everyone fresh for Tuesday evening. We will

prepare the game well tactically in the meetings we have. It is a big game for both teams because the group stages are at stake.

‘It will be good to see Ruud again, because it has been a while. He has good experience of PSV through the academy. It will also be good to see Fred Rutten again — he was my head coach for one year at Feyenoord before I took over.’

‘We have been involved in football for many years, but when the whistle goes it is game time and we need to make sure we do everything we can in the two games to go through.’

Kent and James Sands were both missing from the matchday squad yesterday, Kent due to his exertions in the previous qualifier against Union Saint-Gilloise and Sands through illness. ‘James wasn’t able to train yesterday because he felt a bit ill,’ said Van Bronckhorst. ‘He was much better today, so he will be fine for Tuesday.

‘Because Ryan played the 90 minutes on Tuesday, given that he’d been out for nine days, I thought this game was too soon for him to be involved. But I expect him to be available for Tuesday.

‘We were also able to rest some other players for Tuesday because of the squad we have now.

‘It was pleasing for me today, the win, the three points, the goals we scored and in the second half when we changed a lot of players. We kept the desire to go forward and score goals. That was pleasing for me to see.’

In the absence of sands, Van Bronckhorst (below) handed a debut to defender Ben Davies and it was also a notable day for midfielder Lawrence, who scored his first Rangers goal after arriving on a free from Derby County. Van Bronckhorst insist he’s growing happier with the input of his summer acquisitions. He added: ‘I think we had seven new players coming in and when you are a Rangers player you need adaptation because of all the things they will see in the first weeks and months.

‘We are trying to make sure they are welcomed by the other players and they have to go out and enjoy themselves and make sure they play to their strengths.

‘Malik is settling really well, Tom too, Rabbi also had a good performance, and Ben could play minutes today.

‘The more minutes new players play the more settled they become and the stronger we become as a squad.’

Tillman opened the scoring with a headed goal that had similarities to the match-winning effort he produced against Belgians Union last Tuesday.

Yet it’s his ability with the ball at his feet that persuaded Van Bronckhorst to bring the American international midfielder on loan from Bayern Munich.

The Ibrox manager said: ‘We watched him closely last season and you could see his quality and the understanding with players around him. I think that is a very high level.

‘You see his performances since he came in, against Livingston (at the end of last month) in the second half and then the games after that.

‘Malik is becoming a very important player for us.

‘He scored a great goal today but his overall play shows he is a very big talent.

‘Glen Kamara came into the game late, we still had Steven Davis on the bench.

‘So we are strong in the midfield area. You want a squad like we have now, especially given all the competitions we are in.’