STEVEN DAVIS knows all too well the years of hard graft and sacrifice that it took for Rangers to return to the top level of the European game.
Now the midfielder is determined to ensure Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side don't suffer another Champions League nightmare as they attempt to salvage their Group A dreams.
Rangers head into their clash with Napoli on the back of successive 4-0 defeats against Celtic and Ajax that have put boss Van Bronckhorst and his squad under huge pressure.
A third loss on the spin would ask further questions at Ibrox and leave Rangers facing a seemingly impossible task of being able to qualify for the knock-out rounds or even drop into the Europa League.
The visit of Luciano Spalletti’s side is a daunting prospect as group stage football returns to Ibrox for the first time in 12 years. For Davis, it is an occasion to savour rather than fear.
Davis said: “I don’t think we’ve re-assessed anything [in terms of our ambitions in the group] really to be honest.
“It’s been a huge challenge for us to get into the group stages. There’s been a lot of work done over the last few years on and off the pitch to get us back to this level and we want to enjoy it.
“But ultimately we know it’s a really tough level to play at, you have to be at your best to get results.
“The group was always going to be difficult. We’re the underdogs from the get go.
“But we also have belief within the squad so going into these groups, in general you always know the home games are going to be really important for us.
“Last week clearly wasn’t the start we were looking to get off to, both in the result and the performance.
“Now our focus has to be on getting a better performance and then hopefully that will lead to a result.”
The defeat to Ajax came on the same night that Napoli laid down a marker of their Champions League intentions with a stunning 4-1 win at home to Liverpool.
The last week has given Rangers a chance to assess where it has all gone wrong in recent times and aim to find a formula to see off the Serie A giants.
Davis said: “We are excited for the game to be honest. There is a determination there.
“We’ve had a really good few days back training together and the intensity has certainly been there.
“Everyone has looked really lively because everyone is determined to get back to winning ways.
“We know it will be difficult because we are up against a really good side in Napoli, it will be a tough game.
“We need to have a belief in ourselves because we know the fans are looking forward to having Champions League football back at Ibrox.
“They will create an incredible atmosphere and hopefully we can make it another memorable night.”
Boss Van Bronckhorst came in for criticism from supporters last week after insisting it is ‘too much to ask’ Rangers to compete at Champions League without ‘hundreds of millions’ of pounds.
The Light Blues squad will have to punch above its weight in Group A and Davis is confident they can rise to the occasion back under the Ibrox floodlights.
“I didn’t hear what was said first hand, my take was that it was taken out of context.” Davis said when asked about Van Bronckhorst’s comments in Amsterdam. “I think maybe he was referring to winning the Champions League.
“But yeah, it’s obviously a really tough level to play at but we showed last season with the journey we went on to reach the Europa League final that we’re more than capable.
“If we max out and really hit our highest level then we know what we can do. We know what we have to do to try and do that.”
