There's a train of thought that being in the latter stages of European competition might derail Rangers’ title bid - especially with Celtic NOT playing on the continent during the run-in to the season.
But Giovanni van Bronckhorst is having none of that. Having savoured the exhilaration of that victory over Borussia Dortmund in the last round of the Europa League campaign, the Rangers boss is desperate for more of the same when Red Star Belgrade turn up in Govan tonight.
The Dutchman wants to send the Serbs packing and make real progress in this competition, having seen Rangers under previous boss Steven Gerrard fail to overcome the last 16 hurdle in the previous two seasons.
His philosophy is pretty straightforward; if Rangers are in a cup, he wants to win it. The same will go for the Scottish Cup on Sunday when his side travels to Dundee before heading for the second leg in Belgrade.
And naturally, with only three points separating Celtic from Rangers in the league, that too will have his undivided attention when his team makes the journey back to Dundee on Premiership business on March 20.
But ask him to prioritise one over the other and Van Bronckhorst will insist that’s an impossibility because if you’re in it, you want to win it.
He said: “We respect every competition we are in and we are happy to still be involved in all the competitions.
“We are fighting hard to be successful in the league, we are still in Europe, we are still in the cup. Now we are going to play all three competitions within 10 days.
“We are preparing well in a busy schedule and monitoring the physical fitness of the players. We want to win every game that comes.
“The next game is always the really important game. We are just focusing on tomorrow. Then after that we will think about the cup competition.
“But I think the overall feeling we have is that we are pushing ourselves to be successful.
“In Europe, it’s very important for the development of the team. And the development of the players.
“For the club to still be involved in Europe at this stage is very important.
“Of course, it’s good too for the points we earn for Scotland for the future of European football.
“There are very positive sides about still being in Europe now.
“It’s a busy schedule, as I’ve said before. We play in Europe now and then a cup game at the weekend.
“Then it’s Europe again so I think everyone is aware of the busy schedule. We have to prepare well and rest well to be at our best in every game.
“But, of course, Europe is giving us a huge lift in our morale. We just have to keep pushing to overcome this opponent as well.”
Monitoring the fitness means that there is still no place in the starting line-up against Red Star for Aaron Ramsey and van Bronckhorst is steadfast in his belief that he can’t compromise the team by playing anyone - no matter how talented - if they are not physically ready for the challenge.
He said: “‘Aaron will be in the squad, he will not be starting. For me, Aaron is the same as any player in my squad.
“You want any player to be available and to be able to play. But in the end we also have to monitor the condition of the players.
“We are doing that for Aaron. We are also doing it for Steven (Davis) and Ianis (Hagi), who cannot play.
“The most important thing for us is to make sure we have individual programmes for each player to come back to gain fitness.
“I am happy that Aaron is back in the squad and we are working hard to get Steven back in the squad and for Ianis we know it is going to take longer.”
Welsh international Ramsey may well make an appearance at some point against the Serbs, whom van Bronckhorst recognises as very capable opponents who can be tactically flexible in their approach.
He added: “‘We have to see how they play because they can play a couple of systems.
“They are defensively quite strong.
“They can do the high press, they can defend in a really low block.
“For us it’s a case of managing the game and seeing which moments need which approach.
“In Europe you have to be very dynamic. But I think we have shown against Dortmund that we are capable of doing that.
“We have prepared well, so we know their way of playing when they have the ball and we know the way they like to press. So in the end it is still a game.
“They can change their systems, but I think we are very versatile in our formations and can play in different ways.
“It’s a tough opponent, that’s for sure. But we will go out there and make sure tomorrow we have a good result to take to Belgrade.”
Ibrox was rocking as Rangers saw off Borussia Dortmund last time round and while the support is seething at their Board for sanctioning a friendly against Celtic in Australia in November, van Bronckhorst is convinced that animosity won’t be channeled in the direction of his players tonight.
“I have no doubt that they will be behind us,” he saids. “In the last home games they were terrific, especially in Europe.
“It was a special night against Dortmund. I think the players will feel the energy in the stadium and the support of our home fans.
“ I think they will be there supporting us for 90 minutes. We just make sure we have a good vibe between the players and the fans. “That is what we always have in Europe and I don’t think this will be any different.”
