Nico Raskin raring to go for Rangers title battle and insists Celtic derby drubbing kickstarted Ibrox 'good vibes'

Nicolas Raskin insists Rangers' mauling of Celtic in their last derby has sent out a message ahead of next season's Scottish Premiership title battle.

The midfielder is with the Belgium Under 21s squad who kicked off their Euros with a goalless draw against the Netherlands in Tbilisi, Georgia. Raskin impressed after his £1.7million transfer from Standard Liege in January and the 22-year-old made 11 league starts for Rangers.

He played the full 90 minutes in the last Old Firm game of the season when Rangers swept to a 3-0 home win against a Celtic side who had already been crowned champions. And Raskin believes Rangers can build on that win. He said: "I played a lot for Rangers during the season - whenever I was fit basically. Rangers are a great club with very high expectations. When I arrived, it was a complicated situation and we lost a cup final. But the longer the season went on, the better we were as a team. We ended the season beating Celtic 3-0 and that gave us all a good vibe for next season.

"I can't wait for it to start. My ambition is to win something at Rangers and finally get something to put on my CV! The Scottish league may not be the most followed championship in Belgium, but it's very big. Rangers are a top European club."

And Raskin insisted he came on leaps and bounds this season after the move from his homeland. He said: "I progressed a lot in terms of maturity and the intensity in my game. I have learned to become more consistent. And I have also learned that you have to deal with the pressure of playing for a really big club.

"There is a lot of competition for a place in midfield and you have to fight to be picked. But at all big clubs, there is competition. Pre-season will be my first with Rangers