Martin insists Rangers will have 'right go' in Champions League

The National

2 days ago

The Ibrox boss admitted he was "incredibly proud" of his side after the 1-1 draw in Athens saw Rangers advance by a 3-1 aggregate scoreline.
[[Rangers]] will now face Viktoria Plzen in the third qualifying round of the [[Champions League]]. Victory over Panathinaikos also guaranteed league phase football in the Europa League should [[Rangers]] fall short in their [[Champions League]] quest.
"We've got through a really difficult tie over two legs with a win and we've qualified for the Europa League," said Martin in Greece. "And we can attack the Champions League now and have a right go.
"I'm incredibly proud of them, the team, the staff, the fans were amazing, so it's a big night for us.
"We were playing against a really good team, in a really difficult place to play. Over the two games, they've been very good, very good coach and players, it's probably as tough a draw as we could have had.
"So they're going to have moments, but I think we started both games not well enough in the first half, but at half-time they had to compose themselves and done exactly what I asked of them, even after conceding the goal, it's the best response.
"And they stuck together, they fought, they dug in, and in the second half we played some really good football as well, and should have had a few more moments ourselves, but we'll get better, and they'll grow so much from that.
"So I'm really proud of everyone tonight, and I said to the players before the game at this football club, you have an opportunity not many people get to have nights like this, and really brilliant moments, to make the most of it, and I'm really proud of them."
Read more:
Despite immense pride at qualification, Martin has told his players there must be improvement as he urged them to push for qualification proper in Europe's elite competition.
He said: "I think my job as head coach here is to always want more from the players, so I'm really pleased with tonight that we qualified, but I have to want more in terms of the performance and what we're doing, and we have to be better.
"I said to them I'm so proud of them, but we have to get better, and we will get better, I really believe that, but we are here at a football club that demands we try and win every game we play in, and it's part of the reason why we're all here, so we will give it our very best shot and attack it as best we can and see where it takes us."
Djeidi Gassama struck again from the bench for Rangers in Athens after making the same impact at Ibrox last week.
Martin fielded Findlay Curtis from the start as the former Sheffield Wednesday winger gets up to speed in fitness, but hailed the scintillating start to life at Rangers for Gassama.
"It's a tough call to leave anyone out of the team, especially when someone had such an impact on the bench," he said. "But we went for consistency, players that played together more.
"Gas is still catching up for sure, and he had such a big moment and impact last week, it took the stuffing out of him, it made him tired, which it would I think, naturally.
"He had such a brilliant start. Then got some more minutes Saturday where he wasn't as impactful as he wanted to be, and then tonight he scored a brilliant goal, brilliant finish.
"So he knows what we think of him, he also knows he has to be patient, and he's more ready to start now than he has been before tonight, so I'm pleased with him."