James Tavernier insists Rangers will aim to use recent history in Prague to spur them onto victory to ultimately get their Europa League campaign back on track.
The Ibrox club travel to face their Euro rivals on Thursday for the first time since the two teams met back in 2021, which was a fixture marred with controversy.
Gers midfielder Glen Kamara was on the end of constant boos from children who packed out the Letna Stadium, which was originally meant to be empty as a result of racist abuse by Sparta fans towards Monaco’s Aurelius Tchouameni.
Uefa U-turned and agreed that 10,000 fans would be allowed in – mainly schoolchildren with some accompanying adults – and the booing ended up in cheers as Kamara was sent off in the feisty contest.
The jeers for the Finnish international came after he was racially abused by Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela the previous season.
Rangers captain James Tavernier remembers the hostile environment well and he hopes a new-look Ibrox squad can handle the heat this time around.
He explained: “It was different because it was a crowd full of kids. You don't really hear too much when you play. Glen got substituted on and that's when you hear the boos.
“You were thrown back and also when they said it was going to be behind closed doors then changed it to kids. I don't think we can be the ones to decide what happens so we've got to go over there as a team, block everything out and try to win the game.
“We're in 2023 now so we hope the reception will not be similar this time. We are just turning up to play a game of football and want to put on a show for our fans that are travelling over.
“We hope we don't hear the same but it's not like this issue has been erased in the world so we will wait and see.”
Rangers could do with a win in Prague to get their Europa campaign back on track following a shock defeat to Aris Limassol on matchday two when Steven Davis was in interim charge.
Michael Beale recorded an important win against Real Betis on matchday one, and Tavernier now hopes new boss Philippe Clement will continue to build after defeating Hibernian 4-0 in his first game as manager last weekend.
He continued: “The group's level and it's a restart now because we have a new gaffer and can still come top of the group. Prague is the first game of the boss taking charge in Europe and it's a game we want to do really well in.
“It's a place where we've been before, we know what it's all about. We will try to go over there and get the three points and get back on track of getting through to the next round.
“Domestic and European football are two different standards with different ways to set up and the way we want to play. Most of the weeks we are playing compact teams with ten or eleven players behind the ball and we are trying to break them down.
“In Europe the game is more open and you get more chances but they also have more of an attacking threat so it's something that we relish and we have had really good success in this tournament.
“We always want to win and it's a competition that a few of us have held really close in getting to the final and we hope to repeat the great scenes that we had in the build up to that.
“Limassol was a difficult night. The performance didn't go our way. I couldn't really put my finger on what it was down to.
“We obviously conceded two goals that were avoidable but we put ourselves in a good position against Betis at the start of the group and now we are even. It's time to put more points on the board and get through to the next round.”
Tavernier has been impressed by the impact of new manager Clement and he already feels there is a newfound confidence building in the Ibrox dressing room.
“It gives you big confidence if you can go over there and get the result,” he explained. “The gaffer has implemented the confidence in us every day in training with the way he wants us to conduct ourselves, the way he's conducted himself with us all.
“It starts on the training pitch. You can't just turn it on when it's a match day. You have to train yourselves in the right way and your mind in the right way. Every day he's implementing his own things and it's really good to see.”
Abdallah Sima hit the ground running under Clement at the weekend as he netted twice to strike his sixth goal in his last five games since arriving on loan from Brighton in the summer.
The attacker now returns to Prague, where he made his name at Slavia, so he could be in line for a few fierce shouts from the stands himself come Thursday evening.
On the winger and his recent impact, Tavernier added: “He's been a real attacking threat for us this season. He's got electric pace, and he can finish in difficult areas.
“As long as he can stay fit, he will be a real threat if selected going forward. Generally, with our forwards, we have to give them better service as a team. We need to get around them and give them opportunities to get on the scoresheet the same as Abdallah.”
