Can you give us an injury update?

Rabbi and Ridvan were training yesterday with the team. We have another session in another couple of hours but we still have some players who are injury doubts. We have to see who is fit but those two can travel with us.

You managed in the Champions League before. What did you learn?

I played many times in the Champions League and at Feyenoord, I coached in the competition so I know it's very tough. It's one of the strongest, maybe the strongest club competition in the world so to be involved would be fantastic for us. We have four games to realise that. Tomorrow is the first game out of two. It's a big opportunity for us and we will try everything to overcome first Union, and then we will see who we have to play.

The club had success over two-legged ties last season, how much confidence does that bring?

What we did really well last season and also the season before that was that it's two games so you don't want to enter the second game with a good opportunity to go through. We did that really well last year and had good preparation because we were playing against a very good side. The preparation is normal, now we have to execute the game plan and be at the best in the games for two times 90 minutes or more.

Rangers Review:

What did you make the situation against Livington where the player was warned instead of being given a second yellow card and was then substitiuted? Have you or the club asked for an explanation?

Obviously, I saw the challenge on Scott. I thought it was a clear foul and a clear yellow card because Scotty had a good move and was past him then the player prevented him from going on. I think it was a yellow card which is why I asked the assistant referee why it wasn't a yellow card. He said they found it was not a yellow card but I don't know because you see after a couple of minutes he gets substituted by the bench which is very smart because he knew as well it was a second yellow and a red card. That's the only reason you take a player off, when you know his next foul is a red card. That's all I know from the game. Everything after that we didn't concentrate on because we had to overcome the 1-0 deficit. All our concentration and energy was to win the game.

Do you see Rangers as favourites?

Of course, I have seen Union last year. As you said they had a fairy-tale and an amazing year, they made it into the main league and pushed for the title. It’s an amazing story and in the end, they fell a bit short. I think it is fantastic for them to even push for the title which puts them in the Champions League [qualifiers]. I have a lot of respect for the players and coach. Of course, the coach moved on and his assistant took over. You can see a clear style of play. The name Union may not be too familiar to most people but if you look at how they play, they deserve to be in Champions League contention. We’re preparing well, Rangers is a well-known name, we’ve just been in the Europa League final, but in the end, every team in this round wants to go through and play in the group stages. We have to be at the top of our game to overcome this opponent and we have a lot of respect for them, we’re going to push ourselves and work really hard to beat Union over two games.

Have expectations increased in Europe after last season?

If you reach the Europa League final, you’ll be seen as a favourite to go into the Champions League group stages as well. It’s a very strong competition in this round when you see all the teams that are competing for places. The pressure is always there, that’s why we’re involved at a big club. For me, that’s always the case. We have the possibility to have a good run in August in Europe and qualify for the group stages, that’s our aim and that starts tomorrow against Union.