Former Rangers star Lee McCulloch has insisted that the main difference between this season and the last at Ibrox is the big game mentality instilled by Steven Gerrard since his appointment in the summer.
The Gers can extend their unbeaten run in Europe to 11 games if they manage to avoid defeat against Spartak Moscow in their Europa League Group G clash on Thursday.
Gerrard’s men have endured a stellar start to their continental adventure after securing four points from their two games, against Villarreal and Rapid Vienna respectively, on their way to the top of the group table.
Rangers have looked organised during the big games, barring the disappointment in the derby loss to Celtic, and have been boosted by the performances of their big players during the big games.
McCulloch insisted that the big game mentality instilled by Gerrard this season is the most striking difference from the previous campaign and that it is also down to the impetus shown by some of the senior players in the team.
“There is no doubt that this is a massive 90 minutes for Steven and his players and the difference between this season and last season is that there is a big game mentality in the team”, McCulloch wrote in his column for the Evening Times.
“Look at Allan McGregor, the two centre-halves, James Tavernier, Scott Arfield, Kyle Lafferty, to name just a few.
“When the big games come around, the big players show up.
"Last season, it went the opposite way and in the big games people went missing.
“That is the difference that the manager has made with his mentality and that is seeping through the dressing room right now.
“Expectation levels are rising again and these players have to be able to match that.”
Rangers registered their first away win in the league against Hamilton on Sunday and will be aiming to keep the momentum going against Spartak Moscow on Thursday.
