Alfredo Morelos and Rangers team-mate catching eyes in Europe - 'I just hope we can hold onto them'

Mark Hateley hopes Rangers can hang onto top scorer Alfredo Morelos after his performances in this season’s Europa League.

But he was not the only one who caught the legend’s attention as Rangers held Borussia Dortmund at bay and shocked the Germans on their own ground in the last round to set up Thursday’s tilt at Red Star Belgrade

Former striker Hateley has been impressed by Morelos' improvements – particularly in the aggregate win over the Bundesliga giants – which advanced the Colombian up the competition’s all-time goalscoring charts.

“If you go back to the Dortmund game, that was the best I have ever seen Alfredo.”

“I have been a big critic of him in the past but he was phenomenal. Every part of his game was immense. I just thought ‘Wow.’

“His touch is very good now and he is weighing up situations a lot quicker than he used to so I am pleased for him,” said Hateley, who believes the Colombian is crucial for the team’s crunch time on the continent and in the cinch Premiership title race.

But the former Ibrox hero, who scored 115 goals in two spells at the club, also singled out defender Calvin Bassey as another potentially catching the eyes of Europe.

The defender’s recent run in the team has led to a call up to the Nigeria squad for crucial World Cup play-offs later this month and Hateley added: “You need to keep your goal scorers fit for the run-in.

“I just hope we can hold on to him and Bassey after they do so well in Europe.”