Derek Johnstone: Rangers stars are playing for their Ibrox futures against Leverkusen and Celtic

There are players at Ibrox that are fighting for their futures with Rangers and the fixtures with Bayer Leverkusen and Celtic will tell the manager and the supporters a lot about them.

The season hasn’t panned out as anyone had hoped but this is still a huge week and if you can’t get yourself motivated and up your levels for this run then you shouldn’t be here. It is as simple as that.

Being at Rangers is all about winning and this squad, once again, haven’t done that this season. When it has mattered most, they just haven’t been good enough unfortunately.

But part of the attraction of being here is playing in big European nights and Old Firm games and these are massive fixtures for Rangers. There won’t be any silverware to show for it, but you need to prove you can compete with, and beat, sides like Leverkusen and Celtic.

To have the chance to progress to the last eight of the Europa League is a huge opportunity for Steven and the players. It does come with its own pressure as well and we will find out who is able to handle that expectation and not crumble under it.

The manager and his staff will be looking at this squad and be alarmed at how quickly the confidence has drained from the players and how the season has just fallen apart in the space of a few weeks.

It is far from ideal preparation for a European tie and the game with Celtic isn’t as important as it could have been in terms of the Premiership title race. That is all-but gone for Rangers now.

That doesn’t mean that you just play out the rest of the season and don’t care how it goes, though. Rangers need to finish as strongly as they can because the pressure will build and build if the performances and the results don’t improve.

Some of the players might have been taken aback by the criticism directed their way in recent weeks but that is life at Rangers and you either take that and prove your critics wrong or you let it get to you. In the case, the only way is out rather than up.

There are players that are playing for their places in the squad next season and there will be a handful that are almost certainly in the final weeks of their Rangers careers.

We have heard them say that they want to play for the manager and that they want Steven to stay at the club. Well, the only way that is going to happen is if they, individually and collectively, get a grip of themselves and turn their form around and what an opportunity they have over the next week.

The experienced players have a big part to play here because, to me, it doesn’t look like there is an awful lot of leadership on the park at times. I want to see players being more vocal, being more demanding and motivating those around them.

The manager can only do so much for you. Once you cross that white line, you need to have the self-belief in yourself that you can do the job for Rangers and that you deserve to be at this club and want to wear that shirt.

Some will be thinking ‘Am I good enough to be here? Does the manager want me to be here next season?’ If you want to stay, you have to produce on occasions like this.

When you are winning every week, as we were in the first half of the season, everything is brilliant. The players were highly regarded, the manager was loved and the supporters really believed that this would be Rangers’ season.

Now there are real doubts about some of the players and questions have been asked about Steven. Football can change quickly, and Rangers need it to turn in their favour.

The only way that will happen is if the players get a grip of themselves, stop feeling sorry for themselves and get out there and do their job for the club and the supporters.

A couple of months ago, every player was being lauded but now the criticism has deservedly come their way.

To change that feeling, they need to give their absolute all for the supporters and prove that they have what it takes to be successful at Ibrox.

The fans have waited a long time to get a side they feel can challenge and if you let them down then they will not be slow in making their feelings clear. And they are, you have to say, quite right to do so.

But the crowd can spur the side on as well and Steven will hope that they really get behind the players in these home games with Leverkusen and Celtic and that Ibrox can have a positive impact rather than a negative one.

I have watched Leverkusen a couple of times in the last few days and they are a side that love to attack, that score lots of goals and physically, technically and tactically they are very, very impressive.

They won’t be coming to Ibrox to sit back. They will come and have a go, and hopefully that will suit Rangers because that is when we have fared best this season.

Leverkusen are a better side than Braga and Rangers will need to produce the best performances since Steven was appointed if they are to progress in this tie. It is going to be very, very difficult.

But they are capable of raising their game to that level and of getting a result on Thursday night and what a lift that would give everyone going into the Old Firm game.

Rangers may have lost their chances of silverware this season, but they certainly still have points to prove and plenty to play for between now and the end of the campaign. The next week will be hugely significant and hugely telling for everyone at Ibrox.