Rangers news roundup as Dynamo Kyiv star reveals burning Champions League inspiration and former Ibrox loanee axed

Dynamo Kyiv star Oleksandr Karavayev has revealed the burning motivation that saw them smash Partizan Belgrade to land a Champions League showdown with Rangers.

Rangers travel to Poland for the first leg of their third qualifying round against the Ukrainian League runners-up on Tuesday before next week's second leg at Hampden. But they were handed an ominous warning of Dynamo's strengths when they demolished Partizan Belgrade 9-2 on aggregate in the previous round.

And Ukrainian international midfielder Karavayev has revealed why everyone at Dynamo were so fired up for the tie...after they discovered Partizan had spent their pre-season in Moscow, with Ukraine still at war with Russia. He said: "We were very motivated. Everyone knows what happened before our games with Partizan. When missiles hit hospitals and maternity homes in Kyiv, and as a father of three children I took it all very close to my heart.

"Partizan played pre-season in matches in you know where - I don’t even want to name this country out loud. So this was a very strong motivation for us, we couldn’t play any differently in both legs. We outplayed this team in all aspects, so the results were justified. When we beat them 6-2 in the first leg, we wanted to teach them a lesson and win as easily on their pitch too. And we did."

Meanwhile, former Rangers player Arnar Gretarsson paid the price for a thrashing at the hands of St Mirren as Valur axed him just a couple of hours after their 4-1 defeat. The Paisley side swept to a famous home win in the Europa Conference League in the second leg after a goalless first leg in their first European tie for 37 years.

But the Reykjavik side were clearly far from impressed at the heavy defeat and Gretarsson - who had a