Gers have to believe

KEVIN THOMSON says Rangers have to believe they can rescue their Champions League dreams in Romania this week.

The Ibrox side's hopes hang in the balance after the disastrous 4-1 home defeat by Unirea, but Thomson, below, says they can still turn the group around.

He said: "Sevilla are going to run away with the group so the other three are scrapping for second place.

"Three points in Romania would put us right back in the mix.

"Barcelona lost at home to the Russians Rubin Kazan but I'm pretty sure they can go over there and win.

"I'm not saying we're Barcelona, but we've shown we can win away from home in Europe and we won't be going over there thinking we're massive underdogs.

"If we get back to playing the way we can I don't see why we can't get a decent result.

"We're not under any illusions. Unirea are a good side and they know we'll be hurting from the last result.

"Sevilla have proved they are the best team in the group and I'm sure they'll go far in the competition.

"When the draw was made everybody said Rangers had a good chance but I'm sure Stuttgart and Unirea thought they had a good chance as well.

"Regardless of us losing 4-1, the group's still very tight and although we're at the bottom a good result can put us right back in it.

"That would then give us the home game with Stuttgart, which could be pivotal, then Sevilla, who may already have qualified."

Thomson insists that Rangers weren't guilty of underestimating Dan Petrescu's men in the build-up to the first match.

He said: "People were saying they were the poorest European team we'd played but they were a decent team.

"But we've proved over the years in Europe that we can play. It was only two seasons ago we got to the UEFA Cup Final so we know we can get success if we all work hard and pull in the right direction.

"It was probably the work ethic and organisation that was missing against Unirea at home. They seemed to open us up quite easy.

"Davie Weir said there were things we needed to work on and try to improve. Over the last few weeks we've been doing that so hopefully on Wednesday there will be a marked improvement."

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