Barry Ferguson insists Rangers MUST take lead to Eindhoven but 'work in progress' can topple PSV

Barry Ferguson insists Rangers must take a lead to Eindhoven after their first leg clash with PSV.

Gio van Bronckhorst will face old foes and friends when Ruud van Nistelrooy brings his side to Ibrox on Tuesday for the first instalment of their Champions League playoff showdown. The Gers booked their place by staging an impressive comeback against Belgian outfit Union SG, winning 3-0 in Govan after they looked down and out following a 2-0 reverse away from home. PSV saw off French cracks Monaco, equalising in the 89th minute to force extra-time before Luuk de Jong netted an extra-time winner to ensure the Dutch side progressed.

Now Van Bronckhorst will be in the opposite dugout to his former national team colleague Van Nistelrooy, with the winner scooping the £40million prize pot that comes with reaching the group stage. The losers will drop into the same stage of the Europa League.

Ferguson still sees this season's Rangers team as a work in progress as new signings such as Malik Tillman, Antonio Colak and Tom Lawrence bed in. Alfredo Morelos is still working his way back to full fitness, but Ferguson believes his former club have enough to get the job done - provided they win at home first.

“We know what the Dutch are like,” he told the Go Radio Football Show. “They like to get the ball down and play. PSV normally play with two centre backs and fullbacks are right high and wide, so I think it will be an open game and that will suit Rangers.

“Ideally, as a Rangers man, I’d have liked to have gone over to Eindhoven first. But that’s the way the draw’s been made and Rangers need to make sure that they get a good result going over to Eindhoven, because it will be tough over there. No doubt about it.

“But Rangers have