Former Rangers star Lee McCulloch says that good results in the domestic fixtures will follow if the Gers can manage to perform well in their European games during midweek.
The Old Firm giants will return to the group stages of a European competition after eight years when they travel to Spain for their Europa League Group G clash against Villarreal.
Rangers will go into the game without the weight of expectations on them and their comfortable 4-0 win against Dundee on Saturday will undoubtedly help Steven Gerrard’s men remain confident ahead of the clash.
Villarreal have not had the brightest of starts in La Liga so far this season and only registered their first win of the campaign against Leganes during the weekend when they won courtesy of Carlos Bacca’s second half strike.
McCulloch, who was an integral member of the Gers squad that reached the 2008 UEFA Cup final against Zenit St Petersburg, went on to claim that Rangers’ domestic fixtures will yearn the right results if they manage to do well in Europe.
“Performing well in Europe can only help with the domestic campaign”, McCulloch wrote in his column for the Evening Times.
“That is something the manager will be trying to get across to the players that haven’t had the chance to experience group stage football before.
“There is always a lot of talk surrounding the Europa League about playing Thursday and Sunday but tiredness, in my opinion, can be a state of mind.
“When you are confident and playing well and winning games, you forget about tiredness. You just want the next game to come, you just want that next win when you are sky high.
“That is why it is important that Rangers do as well as they can in the Europa League. If they do, the domestic games will take care of themselves”, he concluded.
Rangers have been drawn alongside Villarreal, Spartak Moscow and Rapid Vienna in Group G of the Europa League this year.
