If Rangers can flick Europa League switch the rest won't matter and I feel something special is coming – Scott Arfield

You often hear teams talk about their fans being the 12th man. You don’t often hear opposition captains saying it.

But this is Ibrox we’re on about – and it’s Europe. It happened a few years ago when I was at Rangers and we’d beaten Rapid Vienna in the Europa League group stages.

Their skipper – Stefan Schwab – came in afterwards and said Rangers didn’t just have 11 players on the pitch. He admitted the crowd were like a 12th man.

He also said he wasn’t that impressed with the team but we can gloss over that part as it might have been sour grapes!

Point is, the Ibrox factor cannot be underestimated. It can inspire the home crowd while intimidating the opposition.

It doesn’t matter who you are. Athletic Bilbao will be used to playing in front of big crowds and huge atmospheres.

But it’s not something that happens every week and Thursday night will be something different. It will be something different from the domestic league as well, that’s for sure.

I wouldn’t say there’s a bad feeling around Ibrox right now but it’s a bit of a struggle. There’s a lot of talk about the home record and losing five games in a row.

But you also have to take into consideration the loss to Fenerbahce was in there as well – and that was a result that helped get the club to the last eight.

It’s been happening for a while now but there is a switch that gets flicked when it comes to Europe. There are probably dozens of reasons why the league form doesn’t match up to European performances.

But that’s also why Rangers fans can be optimistic this week. It almost doesn’t matter what went on against Hibs on Saturday. It can be forgotten.

Everything about Europe feels different. Even the stadium looks different with UEFA slapping their logos and