James Tavernier has vowed Rangers will emerge from their Seville sickener stronger than ever as he insisted Europa League heartbreak can inspire his side to new heights.
The Ibrox captain is faced with having to lift the spirits of his devastated team-mates after their cruel loss to Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties.
But Gio van Bronckhorst’s brave troops don’t have long to wallow in their agony.
Their weary limbs will be pressed back into action tomorrow afternoon as they look to salvage their season by beating Hearts to the Scottish Cup.
But Tavernier believes victory at Hampden could act as a spur for his side to spark a golden era.
Aaron Ramsey was the fall guy at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium after the on-loan Juventus ace had his penalty turned away by Kevin Trapp but Tavernier said: “I couldn’t be more proud of him to step up. We’re all round him. We’re all round the young boys.
“We’ve got great experience in the dressing room and we’re all round each other.
“This is not the end of us. This is the start of something special with this team.
“We want to be building from this to make the fans proud and really push on from this moment.
“With the squad that we’ve got, we’re always going to continue to build on it and bring players in.
“The manager said he lost the World Cup final but it’s football. It’s very hard to take but it’s got to make you stronger and we’ll be back fighting again.
“It’s hard to take. I’m not going to lie. It’s very hard to take - 2008 was the last time we were in this final. We’re going to use this as fuel.
“We want to be in these games, playing against the best in Europe. We have to use this as fuel, especially for this weekend and we have a very important game.
“We’ll see our families and then we have to recover well. I know everyone in the changing room will give 110 per cent to pick up a trophy and finish off the season.
“We’ll use this as fuel, as motivation. It’s a cup final on Saturday. There is silverware to be had.
“It’s the last game of the season and I know every single one of the boys will be firing up when that whistle comes.”
But the showdown with Robbie Neilson’s Tynecastle troops could also very well be the last we see of large chunks of this squad.
Veterans Allan McGregor and Steven Davis are out of contract, as is Connor Goldson who now looks to be on his way after stalled talks on a new deal.
There will be uncertainty too over the futures of Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent and talisman Alfredo Morelos - forced to sit out the final in Spain due to injury - as they enter the final 12 months of their own agreements.
And the Ibrox faithful will worry the colossal displays from Calvin Bassey on their remarkable run to Spain may firm up interest from the likes of former Gers boss Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.
But Tavernier believes there is more to come from his group of men, so long as sporting director Ross Wilson can find a way to keep the squad intact.
“Yeah, it’s obviously important,” he said. “The club is always continuing to recruit the best players that we can.
“We’ll continue to build. That’s what we’ve been doing over these past few years.
“Like I said, this is the best squad I've been with and it’s only going to continue to get better and better.”
There was an added punch to the gut with Wednesday’s devastating defeat as Oliver Glasner’s Bundesliga side pinched the £40million dream ticket straight into the Champions League group stages that comes with lifting UEFA's second-tier trophy.
Gers will now have to fight their way through two qualifiers if they want to join Celtic at European football’s top table.
But Tavernier said: “We have gone toe to toe with some of the best clubs in Europe. We have no fear whoever we’re up against.
“We’ll continue to have that same mentality. Any team we come up against, we’ll go toe to toe with.”
