WHEN Rangers set off on the road back to the top flight of Scottish football back in 2012, European football seemed a long way away for the club.

On Thursday night, Steven Gerrard has a chance to take his side into the group stages of the Europa League. And I don’t think you can underestimate how important it would be for Rangers if they can overcome Ufa and qualify this season.

For the club to get back to where it should be, having European football is massive. Rangers need to be playing at the highest level and getting to the next phase of the competition would be a big moment for everyone at Ibrox.

Just think where Rangers have been for the last five, six, seven years. The fans have suffered, everyone has suffered, and it has been a really difficult time for the club.

Of course, the ultimate ambition for Rangers has to be to be competing in the Champions League once again. That is where we were before and where we want to be again.

But you have to take progression and take things a step at a time and getting into the Europa League would be progression for the board, the management and the players.

It would be brilliant for these players to sample European football because it will really bring them on and help with their learning as players and people.

Now they are seeing the demands of Rangers. They have to go and challenge in Europe, they need to challenge for the league and they have two cups the fans expect them to win as well.

That is the standard that Rangers players have got to meet and so far this season they have done that.

Last season, it felt like Rangers were taking steps in the wrong direction but that isn’t the case now with Steven and his staff and the new players in place.

The manager has spoken a lot about the character and leadership qualities of this side and I think you saw that on Sunday, even though they didn’t hold on to beat Motherwell.

They fell behind twice and responded well to take the lead but the manner of the goals – two set players and a slip from Connor Goldson – will disappoint Steven and I am sure he will be addressing that. The goals they lost came from three Rangers mistakes and they can’t afford to do that in Russia on Thursday night.

This is a real chance for the players to show what they are capable of and they will want to perform at the highest level possible. Right now, that is the Europa League.

When you can offer a player European football, that allows you to go into a different market and you can attract a higher calibre of signing to the club.

For the players that were there last season, they have got to have a point to prove this year. If you are new at Ibrox, you want to prove how you have enhanced the team and the club.

Both individually and collectively, the incentives are there for the squad and, of course, it would mean a lot for Steven in his first campaign as a manager as well.

There is the financial benefit to look at – you could be bringing in around £7million – and that would give the manager scope to bring more players in this week, during the January window or fund the transfers next summer.

I think Friday, the last day of business, could be busy for both Rangers and Celtic, no matter what happens to them in Europe the previous night.

It would be good to see both clubs go through to the group stages because it enhances the reputation of Scottish football and we want to see our teams go as far as possible.

From Rangers’ perspective, it might see the manager look to bring in another couple of players on deadline day just to give the squad that extra bit of strength in depth.

Everyone talks about the negative side of the Europa League and the Thursday, Sunday schedule but I don’t think that will be in the minds of Steven or the players.

They will just be focused on getting to the group stages and then they can deal with whatever the fixture list throws up on a game by game basis.

See when you are winning matches, you don’t feel fatigue and don’t feel tiredness. You just want to get out there and win again.

If you have big games to look forward to and you’re playing with confidence, you can’t wait for the next challenge to come along.

Your body drags you around the pitch when you are winning. When you are not winning and you are thinking about it, you are dragging your body around the pitch and that is a massive, massive difference. Then you are not on your toes, you are not sharp mentally.

But you can’t discount the importance of momentum and that is what a European run could help bring to Rangers this season.

In the Manchester campaign, we must have played 60-odd games that season but we weren’t complaining, we weren’t moaning about anything.

We barely trained. It was turn up, play the game, recover, play another game and the team spirit in that side got us through that.

You can see it in the team just now that there is a spirit there and you can see what it means to the manager and the players as one.

When they lose a goal or score a goal, they feel it as a unit and that togetherness is there to see.

That bond will only get stronger the more they play together and the more they achieve together so it would be great for everyone, on and off the park, if Rangers were back in European competition proper come Thursday evening.