Gio van Bronckhorst wants reeling Rangers players to 'fight even more' ahead of Aberdeen pressure trip

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has urged his reeling Rangers players to "fight even more" as he looks for a response following back-to-back 4-0 defeats. He has appealed to his shellshocked squad to lift themselves for the second time in less than a week following their calamitous defeat by Ajax in Amsterdam.

The Light Blues' first Champions League group game in 12 years ended painfully at the Johan Cruyff Arena, where the visitors found themselves three goals down at the interval, as they had against Celtic last Saturday.

The Hoops added another goal at Parkhead after the break and Ajax repeated that feat to leave Van Bronckhorst stunned again. Rangers, already five points behind Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership after only six fixtures, face Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday and the Ibrox boss urged his players to quickly regain form. He said: "To have to two defeats by Celtic and Ajax, 4-0 twice, is a heavy loss.

"We have to bounce back. It won't be easy of course because the knock we had on Saturday and Wednesday, it is not going to be easy, but it is the only thing we can do. Saturday is a big game for us, it is a tough game at Pittodrie and we have two days to prepare.

"Sometimes in football you taste victory and success and sometimes you feel defeat and feel very low, but when I have those moments as a coach, I want to fight even more and I expect that from my players as well, to be successful against Aberdeen. It is eight goals in two games. That is too much for Rangers. That can never happen.

"Against a team who is very strong in the Champions League you can lose a game, but you see the way we gifted the goals. We have a big game on Saturday against Aberdeen which is a tough game for us, so it is going to