Giovanni van Bronckhorst backs Rangers players ahead of Ajax clash

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has said his players retain his full confidence as they prepare to face Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The Ibrox side are picking themselves up ahead of the match in Amsterdam, having suffered a bruising 4-0 defeat at rivals Celtic in the league on Saturday.

In the aftermath of that defeat, some supporters questioned the club’s lack of transfer business late in the window, though seven new faces had arrived over the summer.

Van Bronckhorst was adamant that the players he has can continue to develop over the season and he didn’t want to bring in deadline day signings.

“I have no regrets at all,” he said at his media conference in Amsterdam. “None. Otherwise I’d have brought in other players.

“We had a lot of players going out, a lot of players coming in. I believe in this squad and we’ll keep going.

“Of course there is talk about new players in and out and it seems (everyone thinks) we have lots of money now in the bank, which is not the case.

“We have to keep going and we have to make sure we make this squad we have now stronger in our development.

“We’ve developed over the past years, not only with me but with Steven (Gerrard) in the years before.

“We have developed players who started at a lower level who have reached the highest levels in their careers.

“Calvin (Bassey) is a great example of that because he’s playing now for Ajax having had a tremendous development with us.

“That’s the way we work at this club and I’ll continue working with this team, improving them in every way I can and to make sure we have the success we all want in the future.”

While happy with the recruitment, the manager did say that time had to be allowed for players to settle, even though some individuals had hit the ground running.

He said: “That’s normal when you have new players coming in. We have to develop as a team again.

“We start with (Antonio) Colak, then Tom Lawrence came into the squad. Unfortunately he’s injured now.

“Then there’s Malik (Tillman) so we have additions who have adapted really quick.

“But still there is loads of improvement for them, personally but also for us as a team.

“I’m sure we will develop as a team in the coming weeks and months.”