Barry Ferguson admits leading Rangers to the semi-finals of the Europa League would 'rank up there' with anything he achieved as a player at Ibrox.
The Scottish Premiership side are in the Basque Country ahead of tomorrow night's huge quarter-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao.
With the score at 0-0, the tie is finely poised ahead of Thursday evening.
Ferguson conducted his media duties tonight, a short while after Rangers touched down in Spain.
He was asked to recollect his memories from 2008, when Walter Smith's side reached the UEFA Cup final in Manchester.
"Obviously, it would rank right up there," he said in his pre-match press conference this evening. "Six weeks ago, I wouldn't have imagined being in this position, standing on the sidelines, as manager of Glasgow Rangers.
"It would rank up there in what I've done in football as a player. There's no doubt in my mind about that.
"But it's not about me. I've always said that. It's about my group of players going and showing their qualities at the highest level.
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"This is a high-level game for us, and I'm confident that they'll go and show that tomorrow night.
"We're very workman-like. That's what I want to see from my team, but also we'll be good footballers.
"So when we have the ball, certainly at a stadium like this you need to be able to keep it.
"So we've spoken about that as well, because we need to defend; they’re a very attack-minded team, but when we get possession, we need to be better, and that's something that we've spoken about and worked on.
"You want to play. There's no doubt, but those days are well over for me.
"The next best thing is being a manager. I never thought this opportunity would happen. As I said, I'm loving every single minute of it.
"It's a bit different from what I'm used to, but I'm really enjoying my time and I'm looking forward to it.
"I said to my players, you've got to look forward to these occasions, you've got to embrace these occasions, and that's certainly something that I'm hopeful we’ll do, and I'm going to do the same."
