Ex-Rangers attacking midfielder Steven Naismith believes it is a big summer for his former club as he feels Scottish football needs a strong showing from the Gers.

Celtic won the domestic treble this season and went a complete domestic campaign without tasting defeat, a testament to their recent domination of Scottish football.




Rangers finished third, a massive 39 points behind their Glasgow rivals and Naismith believes it was unacceptable to watch the Gers so far off the pace in the league.

Pedro Caixinha has already brought in two new signings and is expected to make more in the coming weeks as he prepares to assemble a strong Rangers squad ahead of the new campaign.
 


And Naismith believes that it is crucial Rangers get their recruitment right as Scottish football needs them to be better in the next campaign.  

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"For Rangers to be that far behind Aberdeen and Celtic isn't acceptable", the 30-year-old told BBC Scotland.

"As a club, this is a massive summer for them to get to the stage where they are competing again.

"To be back in Europe again is massive for them and for everyone in Scottish football.

"They need Rangers to be challenging."

Rangers will be in the Europa League next season, but will have to start in the early qualifying rounds at the end of this month.