Rangers travel to Pittodrie this weekend for their final Scottish Premiership pre-split encounter against Aberdeen, and former striker Kris Boyd is urging his old side not to treat the match as a "holiday".
That's because he worries their focus will have shifted towards the upcoming Europa League quarter-final second leg against Athletic Club in Bilbao next Thursday after Barry Ferguson's side earned a credible 0-0 draw at Ibrox, despite playing most of the first leg clash with 10-men.
Speaking on The Warm-Up, William Hill's weekly SPFL preview show, Boyd emphasised that the standards at Rangers must be consistently high, particularly with a pivotal European tie on the horizon.
The 41-year-old pundit highlighted interim manager Ferguson's message of improvement and professionalism, stressing that every aspect of the club’s approach, from training to matchday performance, must be driven by a commitment to success.
"Rangers need to get better as a football club. The standards need to be lifted again," Boyd said. "That day-to-day focus in training should be about enjoyment—enjoy going into training, train properly, and that allows you to go into the weekend and enjoy playing in front of the pressures of having to win football games every week because it doesn't happen anywhere else."
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Aberdeen come into the match in good form, having gone unbeaten in their last four league matches. The Dons have shown signs of finding consistency as they continue to battle with Hibernian and Dundee United for third place, a key position that would secure European qualification.
In contrast, Rangers have been plagued by inconsistency in recent weeks, struggling to find the form required to mount a challenge for the Scottish Premiership title.
Boyd also addressed the narrative that has emerged surrounding Rangers' diminishing chances of securing the league title back from rivals Celtic this season.
With the league now all but mathematically out of reach, some have suggested that the trip to Aberdeen is of little consequence, given the more significant challenges ahead in Europe.
However, Boyd dismissed this viewpoint, arguing that the pressure to perform never subsides at Rangers.
"I hear people say 'It's a free hit,' but what does that even mean? If you say it's a free hit and Rangers go to Aberdeen and lose five or six nil, those same people will be calling for the manager’s head. It doesn’t make sense," he explained.
"They need to go up and put in a performance that at least the fans can come away and say there's a bit of fight there – there's grit and determination ahead of what is a huge game in Bilbao."
With the stakes high, Boyd's message is clear: Rangers cannot afford to take their eye off the ball, even with the lure of the Europa League in the week to come.
The team’s mentality and performance at Pittodrie could serve as an important test ahead of their European adventure - especially since they failed to win up in the Granite City earlier in the campaign.
