Marco Reus struck his 150th Dortmund goal on Sunday - then warned Rangers there is never a good time to face BVB despite the Bundesliga giants’ rocky form.
Reus netted a double as Borussia recovered from their Bayer Leverkusen lashing a week earlier to beat Union Berlin 3-0.
That steadied the ship for Marco Rose’s side and moved them back to within six points of leaders Bayern Munich.
But after crashing out of the DFB Cup to second tier St Pauli last month the pressure remains on the Westfalenstadion giants going into Thursday’s Europa League crunch with Rangers.
Their turbulent campaign has led to some suggesting Rangers couldn’t have timed their trip to North Rhine-Westphalia better.
But Germany star Reus has scoffed at those claims and insists his hurting team mates are desperate to make a statement against Gers and prove they are rightly among the favourites to lift the Europa league for the first time.
He said: “Results have not been as good as we have liked, there is no getting away from that.
“The coach the players, and everybody at the club is working hard to make sure results get better and that this is a successful season.
“Just because results have not been as good as we would have liked people should not think this is a good time to play us - that would be a mistake.
“We are ready for a big game against Rangers - we know we are still full of quality.
“To win the Europa League would be a big achievement - but this season there are some very strong teams in the competition.
“At the moment we are just concentrating on the two games against Rangers.”
Reus is likely to carry Dortmund’s main goal threat against van Bronckhorst’s side with Erling Haaland ’s return from injury expected to be delayed at least a week.
The Norway superstar hasn’t been ruled out officially though and could yet make the Ibrox leg.
Reus is in no doubt as to his ability - and insists he can get even better.
The 32-year-old said: “I have run out of things to say about Haaland - his goals give us such a power.
“He is still so young and he is improving all the time. It might be hard to see how he can get any better - but he still can.”
