Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has warned his team that Maribor will believe they can turn their Europa League tie around on home turf next week, while stressing he himself turned around deficits on a regular basis while a player.

Gerrard watched his men register a 3-1 victory over the Slovenians at Ibrox on Thursday night to take pole position in the tie to qualify for the next stage.




Goals from Alfredo Morelos, James Tavernier and Lassana Coulibaly were enough for Rangers to clinch victory, though an away goal for Maribor has given Gerrard no illusions over what the Slovenians will be thinking.

He told Rangers TV: "You want the biggest advantage you can get, and in my time playing European football, it is never over at this stage.
 


"They are a good team, a team with Champions League experience and they will be fired up next week. They are at home and they will have confidence that they can turn the result round.

"I have turned many deficits like this around myself as a player, so we need to be on it and we need to be at it.

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"The game plan will be slightly different, but of course, 3-1 looks better than 2-1. This is only half-time though and we won’t get carried away", Gerrard added.

Maribor sit top of the Slovenian league after three games played, having taken seven points and scored three goals in the process.

The Slovenians have not lost on home turf since May, when they suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Olimpija Ljubljana.