McLeish calls on fans to unnerve Artmedia

Rangers manager Alex McLeish has urged supporters to leave Artmedia Bratislava reeling from their latest trip to Glasgow – just as the Celtic faithful did.

The Slovakian outfit stunned Celtic with a 5-0 defeat in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League only to collapse and ship four goals in the return leg at Parkhead.

It was not enough to prevent the Hoops crashing out of Europe but it was enough to suggest Artmedia were rattled by 60,000 hostile fans at Celtic Park.

Fate then threw Artmedia and Rangers together in the group stages of the competition.

A shock win over Porto at the Dragao in their last Champions League game means Artmedia will now be full of confidence on the road but McLeish is keen to see the Rangers fans play their part and ensure there is no happy ending in Glasgow tonight.

The Rangers manager said: “We hope our fans can play a huge part in this game.

“At Ibrox maybe we can show Scottish fans are different from Portuguese fans.

“They can generate more energy for the Rangers team and possibly unnerve the opposition.

“We have a home game here. Artmedia have gained a lot of confidence but we hope we can do a similar job.

“Not to the extent that Celtic did at Parkhead – I think it would be difficult to achieve what they did that night – but beating Artmedia is what we have to do whether it’s a score like Celtic’s or whether it’s 1-0.

“Don’t forget they have gained experience since playing Celtic but if they fell apart like that we would be delighted.”

Maximum points from their next two games against Artmedia will give Rangers a great chance of booking a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

And McLeish has urged the whole country to throw their weight behind the only Scottish team to remain in European competition this season.

He added: “We have a fantastic opportunity and one that everyone totally relishes.

“We look for everyone in Scotland to get behind the team and we hope we can get a great result.”

Rangers may have impressed in the Champions League so far this season but those successes have come at a cost as their defence of the SPL title has faltered.

However, McLeish reckons an extended run in the competition can boost their Bank of Scotland Premier League campaign rather than cause even more damage.

He said: “It would be fantastic to qualify from the group, we have never done it before.

“The spin off from Europe I am sure would give the lads the confidence to take that into the domestic campaign and start winning games regularly.

“Celtic had a great run in the past and you always expected them to come back tired from their European exploits, but they came back and kept winning games.

“If we can do something similar we would be delighted.”