Rangers manager Barry Ferguson shared his pride in the team’s performance as they drew 0-0 with Athletic Bilbao against the odds in their Europa League quarter-final first leg at Ibrox.
Robin Propper was sent off just 13 minutes into the match and Liam Kelly saved a second-half penalty as the Ibrox side fought for a result that keeps their hopes of progress alive ahead of next week’s second leg in Spain.
Ferguson, who had been critical of the players’ mentality when they slumped to a 2-0 Premiership loss to Hibernian last weekend, saw the perfect response from his team and said that they shown how hard they can work.
“Really proud of the effort and the commitment that my players showed tonight,” he said.
“Obviously difficult when you go down to 10 men.
“What I’ve seen tonight out there was a team that took the instructions on.
“Obviously the chat we had on Monday really sunk in. They took the information in as well and that’s important.
“I think anybody watching the game tonight would have seen a team that will run through brick walls for each other.
“I’m proud of the guys, how they took that information on. It’s not the way we wanted to play this game.
“But I thought overall, the boys, after letting them know a few long truths on Saturday and Monday, I’ve got to give them a lot of credit for tonight.”
Ferguson had made six changes to his side from the one that was defeated by Hibs, with the most notable switch being Kelly replacing established number one Jack Butland in goal.
The manager admitted the decision hadn’t been easy, and that Butland had been unhappy with the call, but he insisted he had to make his selection based on what he thought was best for the club.
“It was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do,” he said.
“Firstly, I think Jack Buckland is a top goalkeeper. Secondly, I’ve got a very, very good relationship with Jack.
“I’ve known Jack a long time, he was a young kid coming through Birmingham when I went down to play for Birmingham in the Premier League.
“Thirdly, I’ve got to know it’s hurting Jack and I’ve got to be mindful of that as well. Because I care for him.
“I just had to make a decision and it was a tough decision when I spoke to him. I could see it was hurting. You go with decisions.
“It’s not one that I decided on Saturday night or Sunday. I thought long and hard about it.
“When I spoke to him, it was a tough 10-15 minutes conversation.
“But, listen, Jack’s still got a huge part to play here. In terms of Liam coming in, I thought he’d done well tonight.”
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