Wednesday 22 August 2018 17:48, UK
Steve Gerrard is expecting Rangers fans to "take the roof off" when they face Russian side FC Ufa in the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday.
The winners of the tie will advance to the group stages and after coming through qualifying rounds against Shkupi, NK Osijek of Croatia and Maribor to reach the play-offs, Gerrard believes his side can benefit from home advantage.
"It's another full house, the crowd are excited and we know they are going to take the roof off," he said.
"I think we have to go with that. We have to be positive, on the front foot, and I'm looking for a top class performance from my team.
"We'll be looking for a performance full of aggression and intensity, I think that's when we are at our best.
"I think you saw it certainly for the second half against Mribor. For the opening fifteen, twenty minutes we played at a very good speed that they couldn't live with."
Russian Premier League side FC Ufa, who have been granted visas to travel to Scotland despite a short turnaround from their last qualifying game against Progres Niederkorn on Thursday, are a relatively unknown team but Gerrard is taking nothing for granted.
"A Russian team will be technically very gifted," he added. "I think they will look to play on the counter at Ibrox so we're aware of their strengths but we're also aware of their weaknesses as well.
"It's my job to give the players a game plan that they're comfortable with which we'll work on before the game.
"Then it's over to the players to go and deliver a performance to make the fans proud and I'm confident they can deliver that."
