‘Devastated’ Rangers determined to reach Europa League final for Jimmy Bell

Giovanni van Bronckhorst believes the “character” of his Rangers players will shine through against RB Leipzig on Thursday night as they bid to reach the Europa League final while still mourning the shock death of kitman Jimmy Bell.

The death of the popular and long-serving Bell at the age of 69 was announced by the Ibrox club on Tuesday.

The news came as the Light Blues were preparing for their semi-final second leg at Ibrox, where they will bid to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first meeting in Germany.

“Yesterday wasn’t about keeping the spirits high, we were all shocked by the news that Jimmy passed away, it was a hard day for all of us,” said the Rangers boss, who will give Kemar Roofe and Aaron Ramsey “as long as possible” to prove their fitness.

“I think everyone was really down as you could imagine, so yesterday we didn’t do a lot.

“We were at the training ground, but the atmosphere was very down and still in shock.

“I don’t think we had the feeling that we had to keep our spirits high.

“We talked about him, we shared the personal stories we had with Jimmy and today we look ahead to Leipzig tomorrow.

We still mourn, we are still down, but the character of my players are the best I have seen in any teams I have coached- Giovanni van Bronckhorst

“It was a really big game already, but we are all very determined to go out tomorrow to give everything we can to make everyone proud, especially make Jimmy proud.

“We still mourn, we are still down, but the character of my players are the best I have seen in any teams I have coached and I am sure tomorrow that the character, the determination will be there and we will do everything to reach the final.

“Today we are back and we are going to try as prepare as well as