Rangers deserve Europa League best wishes so board must ask themselves why they're in short supply - Keith Jackson

Believe it or not some of us will be keeping our fingers crossed for Rangers on Thursday night.

The men in charge of running the club’s affairs may be hell bent on making themselves hard to like - even among their own supporters - but, regardless, it’s been impossible not to admire this spectacular blue surge across the continent.

At times what they have produced throughout this run has been quite spellbinding and now that they are within 90 minutes of a Europa League semi-final, they will carry with them the best wishes of those of us who are not twisted by bigotry or warped by hatred.

They have most certainly beaten better teams than Braga to get this close and even though Giovanni van Bronckhorst has come through a traumatic recent period, it is to be hoped that Sunday's trouncing of St Mirren is a sign that his side is ready to regroup at a crucial moment.

People who care deeply about this game of ours could imagine few things more satisfying than the sight of a Scottish club making it all the way to a showpiece final and dumbfounding the Swiss-based cartel bosses who have tried so hard to make such an unlikely feat a virtual impossibility.

The truth of the matter is Scottish football ought to be genuinely thankful for the stellar work that was started by Steven Gerrard and which Van Bronckhorst has continued since taking over from the Englishman in the Ibrox dugout.

At a time when Steve Clarke has our national side in splendid resurgence, Rangers have also carried the flag for this country with such distinction that they have forced a path for Scottish clubs back into the billionaires’ playground of the Champions League.

Get all the latest Sports news sent straight to your Inbox every day by signing up to our