belfasttelegraph

Thursday 23 May 2013

Davis plots Rangers' path to glory

Steve Davis

Northern Ireland star Steven Davis believes Rangers must take at least four points from their Champions League double-header with Unirea Urziceni to have any hope of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition.

Rangers play host to the Romanian champions at Ibrox tonight in the first of what will be back-to-back meetings between the two clubs, with Walter Smith's men travelling to Bucharest early next month.

Both teams have taken a single point from their opening two Group G matches and both will be eyeing the matches against each other to kick-start their respective hopes of reaching the last 16.

Asked how many points Rangers realistically need from the clashes, Davis said: “We need four minimum if we are looking to progress. The home games are vitally important in this competition.

“And, if you are going to progress, you need to pick up results on the road as well.

“We didn't beat Sevilla and that makes the game tomorrow night all the more important for us.”

The visit of Sevilla ended in a |4-1 defeat for Smith's men, the result of a late collapse following a decent showing for the first hour at Ibrox.

They also impressed in the second half in Stuttgart in their opening match and Davis believes the signs are there that Rangers have plenty more to offer.

“There is a lot more to come from us this season,” he said.

“We haven't been playing to the best of our ability. The European games are ones the boys have been up for and looking forward to and we have played some of our best football of the season so far in this competition.

“They are great nights to play in and all the boys look forward to the European games, especially at home when the fans get behind us.

One boost is the news Madjid Bougherra is back in the squad after missing the weekend win at St Johnstone after returning late from international duty with Algeria.

\[Peter Hutcheon\]Davis said: “Madjid has been a big player for us this season and has put in a couple of good performances in the Champions League so far and he looks forward to the games. We are delighted to have him back.”

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