IT is only natural that people will look at the Europa League draw and the chance to face Progres Niederkorn again in the play-off round.

But they still have to beat UFA to get to that stage and Rangers, of course, can’t take anything for granted against Maribor over the next fortnight.

These two games will be a really difficult for Steven Gerrard’s side and they will have to step it up again from the win and draw with Osijek in the last round.

The wins over Shkupi and Osijek have given the manager plenty of encouragement in the early weeks of the season and now he will want to see the team improve once again.

I know from my own experience that it can take months for a team to gel and perform how you want them to. That process doesn’t just happen overnight.

It takes time for partnerships to be formed and for a side to get the understanding that you are looking for and the fact that Rangers seem to be getting that fairly quickly is a real positive for Steven.

As a manager, you want to see progression in every game. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what percentage that is, as long as you are getting better and not worse.

We can see that with Rangers and the European games are a great chance to show how they are coming along and that they can handle the pressure of playing in Europe with Rangers.

Playing on a Thursday and a Sunday isn’t easy when you take into account the travelling, but that is why you are at Rangers.

You need to win in midweek and then ensure you don’t slip-up in the Premiership.

You might be tired, but you need to keep the standards high. That can’t be used as an excuse because you have a game to win.

That is the reality at Rangers right now and that is the message the manager will be giving to the players ahead of these next matches.